The Importance of First-Person Narrative in the Yellow Wallpaper

582 Words3 Pages
Secret diaries are the written words of unsaid thoughts, and it can be used to understand a person’s true feelings. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman does just that. With the use of a first-person narrative, Gillman builds up the story about the narrator who slowly goes insane after the birth of her child. It is clear that Gillman provides a first-hand acknowledgment of the narrator’s feelings and thoughts as she is stuck in a room where she goes mad. Gilman’s use of a first-person narrative written through journal entries is effective in capturing the narrator’s feelings and emotions to create a thrilling short story. In the beginning of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator describes the temporary house they are staying in for “vacation” and notes that “there is something queer about it” (Gillman 425). Here, Gillman foreshadows a slight issue with the house, which becomes the central problem of the story. The narrator also describes her husband, John, who is a physician. According to her, her husband does not believe she is sick, though she knows for herself that she is. At this point in the story, it is understood that the narrator is concerned for her sickness, but no one in the house cares to bring it to extreme attention. Contrary to her husband’s orders, the narrator believes the only way for her to get better is to keep herself busy. The narrator says, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gillman 425). Surprisingly, it is understood here that her own recommendations would be the correct solution to her problem. The narrator also states: “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency- what is one to do?” (Gillman 426). Since her

More about The Importance of First-Person Narrative in the Yellow Wallpaper

Open Document