Yellow Wallpaper

In Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper, the protagonist at the end of the story became more and more insane. Her mind led her to believe that she was the woman behind the wallpaper. She assumed the behaviors and mannerisms of the woman by creeping around the room and thinking that she had come out from the wall. She said, “It is so pleasant to be out in the great room and creep around as I please” (Gilman 405). The shifts in the plot, narrative and point of view happen as the woman slips deeper into insanity and becomes more involved with the wallpaper and the woman behind it. She became more pleasant and seemingly became more sane as the story progressed. It wasn’t until the end that we figured out that she was actually getting worse. She started to become extremely paranoid and she told the story as if everyone around her was becoming crazy. “I’ve caught [John] several times looking at the paper… I caught Jennie with her hand on it once” (401). She did not like the location of her room and all the windows in it. It was too big, too many windows and the sun and moon constantly shone in the room. The wallpaper obviously upset her; she didn’t like the color, pattern or the flow of it. She didn’t like the layout of the furniture either. She didn’t like the grounds because she constantly saw people creeping around. It’s odd that John kept her there when he knew she was uncomfortable in the room, when she was in fact brought there to become healthy.