Losing Control of Reality:
An Analysis of the Delusional Characters in “Araby” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
We like to think that anything is possible. When certain inevitabilities or obstacles are brought into light, one learns to cope with their own lack of control. This is exactly the conflict that the characters of James Joyce’s “Araby” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” have to face. Although these characters have many differences between them, they both live their lives similarly. First of all, both the boy in “Araby” and the woman in “The Yellow Wallpaper” have no control over their lives. In addition, these characters experience isolation as a result of their controlled lives. Finally, that feeling of isolation drives
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To begin with, the boy from “Araby” develops a love for Mangan’s sister. His love for Mangan’s sister drives him into isolation. The boy would watch others interact in the comfort of his own home: "From the front window I saw my companions playing below in the street. Their cries reached me weakened and indistinct [...] I looked over at the dark house where she lived." (Joyce 3). After falling in love with Mangan’s sister, the boy isolates himself from his friends. Now with the goal of pursuing Mangan’s sister, he doesn’t play with his friends, but rather watches them from afar in isolation. He fell in love with Mangan’s sister as a way to cope with the lack of control in his life by bringing in something that he thinks he can control; her feelings. Similarly, the woman from “The Yellow Wallpaper” begins to experience isolation as a result for her lack of control. When she suggests socializing with people, her husband would say that “he would as soon put fireworks in [her] pillowcase as to let [her] have those stimulating people about now” (Gilman 177). In addition, she would be alone for most of the day: "John is kept in town very often by serious cases, and Jennie is good and lets me alone when I want her to." (Gilman 178). As part of the resting treatment, the husband keeps the woman in isolation. The husband has complete control of her life. As part of the resting cure, he …show more content…
The boy from “Araby” develops a distorted view of reality through his love for Mangan’s sister. His view of the world shifts when he is under the influence of her. He would describe the world around him extravagantly: “My eyes were often full of tears [...] and at times a flood from my heart seemed to pour itself out into my bosom. [...] [M]y body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (Joyce 2). He describes things in a very idealistic way. The boy is thrown into an ideal world because of his love for Mangan’s sister. While on the other hand, the woman from “The Yellow Wallpaper” slowly slips out of reality the longer she is put through the rest treatment. The longer she spends staring at the yellow wallpaper, the more out of touch with reality she becomes: “The front pattern does move— and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.” (Gilman 185). After the woman has been in isolation for some time, she begins to develop delusions about the yellow wallpaper. Her sense of reality has been so distorted, that she fails to use common sense to determine that a woman couldn’t possibly be behind the pattern on the walls. Like the boy, the woman develops delusions to combat the hopelessness of her
The protagonist of Araby is a young boy who is infatuated with his friend Mangan 's sister. The setting, and the introduction of the this woman is nearly identical to that in A&P. Joyce 's narrator spends his time “lay[ing] on the floor in the front parlour watching [Magnan 's sister 's] door” (Joyce 182). Immediately from the outset of the story, Joyce has rendered the narrator as someone who frivolously awaits his female interest with no other motivation. The main character then finally encounters Magnan 's sister personally, where she tells him about a bazaar near town called Araby. Joyce 's protagonist is shocked when Magnan 's sister “addresse[s] the first words to [him]” (Joyce 183) as he has spent a plethora of time yearning for an interaction with her. Joyce has implemented the idea into Araby that males are inherently reliant on females. Interestingly, Joyce has incorporated another male character in his story that is presented as inferior to his female counterpart. The purpose of the narrator 's uncle in the story is to slow the main character from going to Araby. The Uncle comes home much later than expected, and is chastised my his wife: “Can 't you give him the money and let him go? You 'v kept him late enough as it
It is clear that in their marriage, her husband makes her decisions on her behalf and she is expected to simply follow blindly. Their relationship parallels the roles that men and women play in marriage when the story was written. The narrator’s feelings of powerlessness and submissive attitudes toward her husband are revealing of the negative effects of gender roles. John’s decision to treat the narrator with rest cure leads to the narrator experiencing an intense feeling of isolation, and this isolation caused her mental decline. Her descent into madness is at its peak when she grows tears the wallpaper and is convinced that “[she’s] got out at last, in spite of [John] and Jennie… and [they] can’t put her back!”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, is a first-person narrative written in the style of a journal. It takes place during the nineteenth century and depicts the narrator’s time in a temporary home her husband has taken her to in hopes of providing a place to rest and recover from her “nervous depression”. Throughout the story, the narrator’s “nervous condition” worsens. She begins to obsess over the yellow wallpaper in her room to the point of insanity. She imagines a woman trapped within the patterns of the paper and spends her time watching and trying to free her. Gilman uses various literary elements throughout this piece, such as irony and symbolism, to portray it’s central themes of restrictive social norms
...ow Wallpaper" and Henry Isben’s play A Doll's House both prove that independence is key in a woman’s life in order to feel free; yet social norms of the Victorian Age cause freedom to come at a high cost. Nora, the heroine in A Doll’s House, escapes from her husband’s confinement by leaving her family. While this seems revolutionary, Nora’s freedom will only cause confusion in her life. Had she not had her personal awakening on individualism, she would have remained happy with her family. In the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator achieves freedom through madness. The narrator thinks she is free when she goes mad, yet this is only a brief feeling, as she will most likely realize the publicity of her mental state will only increase the restrictions upon her. In both texts, the heroines break for freedom will only result in more confusion and confinement in their lives.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Booth, Alison and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 354-65. Print.
The concept how woman are treated in modern times have changed drastically compared to woman who lived in the conservative period. That period was the time where the perception of individuals in general dealt with countless restraints. The women were the ones who were affected the most because these values had strongly influenced them. Woman behaved in a way how their husband’s wanted because they were living their lives by the controlled ways of the man. The story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the story of “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin are two stories that show accurately the way how women were treated at that time; exactly Edna and the other women. I want to discuss that the main characters of these two stories; Edna and the other women’s liberty were interdicted by their husbands. Finally, the way how both stories end; Edna’s suicide, and the other women’s insanity; demonstrates their inability to escape from the unhappy reality. None of them found the real strength, to outdo the restriction and effects of society, to attain their independence and freedom that they continuously wanted to achieve.
In this essay I will discuss the short stories A&P by John Updike and Araby by James Joyce which share several similarities as well as distinct differences between the themes and the main characters. I will compare or contrast two or more significant literary elements from each of the stories and discuss how those elements contribute to each story’s theme.
Restraints are set by parents on their children to aid with the developmental process and help with the maturity level. Restrictions and the ability to control exist in our society and our lives. We encounter restraints daily: job, doors, people, and the most frequently used and arduous become intangible. In the following stories tangible and intangible scenarios are presented. Autonomy, desires, and talents spurned by the husbands in John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums and Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The authors share views regarding a similar theme of male domination and imprisonment. “The Yellow Wallpaper” involves the treatment of a depressed woman who is driven insane in a male imposed detention in her own room. On the other hand, Elisa Allen in the “The Chrysanthemums” struggles internally to find her place in a fully male dominated society with definite gender roles. The mirror-like situations bring upon a different reaction for both the women in different ways. The importance of symbolism, control from their husbands, and the lack of a healthy marriage will be discussed in this paper in two stories.
As if miming their own personal experiences, authors use various plots, characters, and literary devices to paint the lack of control a person in society has over their own life in dark contrast against their desires. By doing this, the theme of control, with the help of desire and the monotony of life, explores the authors' viewpoints of humanity’s attempt at controlling their environment. In the short story “Jerry and Molly and Sally,” Raymond Carver uses the character of Al as a way to describe and explain the frustrations and anxiety of having no control of life while being stuck in an unfortunate set of circumstances, while desperately reaching for some sort of solution or rather anything that will regain him control over his own life; through the main character, Carver could also be interpreted to give a lesson about life and control,. While in James Joyce’s “Araby,” the nameless protagonist lives through a life of absolute monotony, where he discovers he has no control or ability to change his life to the way he wants. What exactly is it that the authors are trying to say through the characters that so desperately lunge at something so far out of their reach?
In the short stories, “Paul’s Case” by Willa Carter and “Araby” by James Joyce, both the protagonists are infatuated with the idea of escaping the conventional routines in their daily lives. Their main goal is to obtain a more romantic, extravagant, glamourized life. For Paul, his dream of a glamorized life lies in distant New York. For the unnamed protagonist in “Araby”, he hopes to find his in Araby with the neighbor girl who he barely knows. They believe that by achieving this escape, they’ll find the pleasure and satisfaction they’ve been hoping for. Both the protagonists dream to find a romance in a world hostile to romance by escaping the reality that they live in.
The setting of these two stories emphasize, on visually showing us how the main characters are based around trying to find freedom despite the physical, mental and emotional effects of living in confinement. While on the other hand, dealing with Psychology’s ugly present day behavior showing dystopia of societies views of women during the time period they lived.
Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper” inspires that sometimes, to find your true self, you must break free restrictions and rules. The narrator looses herself in her decision to give into her husband and society and ceasing to do what she loved. With her decision to rebel and instead continue to write, she begins to find herself and her true freedom.
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two short stories that incorporate multiple similarities and differences. Both stories’ main characters are females who are isolated from the world by male figures and are eventually driven to insanity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the unidentified narrator moves to a secluded area with her husband and sister-in-law in hopes to overcome her illness. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father keeps Emily sheltered from the world and when he dies, she is left with nothing. Both stories have many similarities and differences pertaining to the setting, characterization, symbolism, and their isolation from the world by dominant male figures, which leads them to insanity.
In The Yellow Wallpaper, the wallpaper is that which separates Jane from her latent desires for agency and equality in her relationship with her husband. Through a close reading of the final two pages of Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s short story, one can examine the relationship that Jane has with the woman in the wallpaper, who is representative of Jane’s inner self, and the relationship between Jane and her husband John. This examination is key to understanding the way that power dynamics manifest themselves in the narrative and how they impact Jane’s quest for agency.
The short story “Araby” by James Joyce is told by what seems to be the first person point of view of a boy who lives just north of Dublin. As events unfold the boy struggles with dreams versus reality. From the descriptions of his street and neighbors who live close by, the reader gets an image of what the boy’s life is like. His love interest also plays an important role in his quest from boyhood to manhood. The final trip to the bazaar is what pushes him over the edge into a foreshadowed realization. The reader gets the impression that the narrator is the boy looking back on his epiphany as a matured man. The narrator of “Araby” looses his innocence because of the place he lives, his love interest, and his trip to the bazaar.