Symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper :: essays research papers

Symbolism in The Yellow WallpaperThe Yellow Wallpaper is overflowed with symbolism. Symbols are images that deport a meaning beyond them selves in a short story, a symbol is a detail, a character, or an incident that has a meaning beyond its literal role in the narrative. Gilman uses symbols to tell her story of a womans mental state of being diminishes through with(predicate)out the story. The being paragraphs tell just some of the symbols and how I interpreted them, they could be read in many different ways.The title itself, The Yellow Wallpaper, is symbolizing the role men play in a immemorial edict, where men are the more dominant sex, and how women are trapped in a life of male control. For instance, At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all moonlight, it becomes bars(Gilman 211) This shows how the narrator feels trapped by the paper. Another symbol that refers to the role women play is, And she is all the time trying to climb thr ough that pattern, it strangles so I think that is why it has so many heads.(Gilman 213) This is meaning that if a women tried to play a role in society she was just not taken seriously, or felt like trying to play a role was getting nowhere.The way Gilman describes the wallpaper tells of what the narrators mind is thinking, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide.(Gillman 206) She doesnt think this on the conscious level but more on the unconscious mind level. When the narrator writes, (The designs) destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.(Gillman 206) She is speaking of her state of mind subconsciously, the narrator is on the brink of losing her mind at this point. Gillman writes, There is a recurrent skin senses where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. (Gillman 207) She was explaining how the wallpaper is like a watchdog or a guard of some type, watching her every m ove, naturally making her nervous.I think that the narrator feels much alone in life, even though she has a family who cares for her. She is clinically depressed so naturally she is going to feel isolated from the world. Speaking about a house that the narrator grew up in, she writes, and in that respect was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend.