Finding one’s self, will be the longest journey that one will ever endure in a lifetime. It is simply a lifelong adventure, filled with obstacles constructed by the means of society. However, to undergo the obstacle of oppression is a long lasting brawl itself, that may steal one’s freedom and can lead to the downfall of one’s sanity. Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, examines the life of a lost woman who is seen gradually becoming insane, as she combats the struggle of losing her freedom to all oppressive figures in her life. By examining the symbolism of the pattern in the wallpaper, the symbolism of the woman behind it, and the irony of John’s treatment, one can see that the narrator feels trapped and suffocated…show more content… The symbolism of the patterns represent her struggle to understand her life, as she is forcefully placed in an isolated environment to cure her of a ‘temporary nervous depression’. In the event of the narrator observing the patterns in daylight, the details in her comments reveal her afflictive feelings that had been suppressed to release an ounce of freedom that had been taken away due to her immediate oppressor— her husband. He insists he understands her illness better than she does, and she may only be guided with ‘special direction’. These acts trap the freedom to understand her own illness, which leaves the narrator to configure the patterns on the wallpaper to make sense of it as she claims, “...the pattern is torturing. You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in the following, it turns a back-somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream” (Perkins Stetson 653). Since the narrator’s actions, in regards to her illness, are so strongly controlled, it restricts her from being able to voice a justification for her husband’s demands, the house she is staying in, or even her own thoughts. As a result, the suppressed emotions…show more content… Combatting oppression in one’s life is an immense struggle that may scar one’s mentality for a lifetime, but maintaining one’s freedom and creativity without any opposing dictations will truly enclose any oppression-based wounds, and continue to move one along their journey to finding one’s
