Insanity In The Yellow Wallpaper

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Triggering the Hidden Part of the Human Subconscious Through Inanimate Objects Many have feared where the line between sanity and insanity blur into one when an amount of trauma creates hallucinations in the subconscious. Throughout humanity’s earlier days, mental illness could not be determined by a physical diagnosis. The concept of how a sane person can turn insane brings wonders yet curiosity into the subconscious. Yet, the possibilities were expressed through the ideals of literature in a place where little to no knowledge could burst into bountiful amounts on the subject of insanity. One author in particular writes about a woman who explains through first person her journey from sane to insanity. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story …show more content…

“I'm really getting quite fond of the big room, all but that horrid paper”(Gilman 4.) In this sentence, the main character settles into her temporary home and enjoys the room expect for the presence of the wallpaper. This shows that at the start she had a general hatred towards the wallpaper. “But I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself!”(Gilman 10.) However, in this sentence the main character had grown to like the wallpaper as it pikes her interest as she notices the figures behind the paper. It also shows that the main character has become possessive over the mystery the wallpaper has and does not want anyone to interfere with her chances of discovering the secret. Comparing these two sentences from the text, there is a drastic change in the character’s thoughts about the wallpaper as she grew to live with it. This type of literary device is called a dynamic character. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the use of a dynamic character is important to show how a fictional character confronts certain situations they are put through that test their mental attributes, personality and perspective on things. Mental illness is an invisible force that not even science can break down into chemical equations to cure

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