Krista Dorn
Professor Aguilar
English 1302-059
July 22, 2015
Narrator Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper”

The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, gives readers a first hand glimpse into the mind of a mentally disturbed woman fighting numerous and constant battles within herself and with others, one of them being post partum depression. The story is set in a historical period when it was typical for men to dominate over women. As illustrated in this story, the mentally disordered woman, possibly named Jane, is clearly at the mercy of her physician husband, John. He tells her what she can and cannot do, where she will sleep, and when she will take her medicine. Stetson consistently portrays the narrator as a progressively mentally disturbed woman that cannot seem to escape the thought that the wallpaper in her room takes on a life of its own while having some sort of power over her that she is not able to control. The unreliable narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” piques unceasing curiosity while describing more and more detailed and subjective ways she is reaching total insanity; telling the story from a first person point of view makes this story much more captivating than if told in a third person limited type narrative.
By the woman’s early admittance that she is suffering from a temporary nervous depression, she immediately establishes herself as an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is specifically defined as a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. She further proves her unreliability throughout the entire story with example after example of obvious escalation of her illness. At an early point in the story she states, “if I were only well enough to write” and “I wish I could get well faster” (Stetson 649). These statements disclose to us some definite characteristics of an unreliable narrator since she is openly admitting to being unwell. At another point she proclaims, “It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight” (649). This self admittance of mental challenge further communicates that she is clearly not in her right mind, making her the epitome of an unreliable narrator. She exposes some signs of her post partum depression when she refers to Mary being such a great caregiver to the baby, and then she continues on to say, “Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (649). This statement reiterates that she is ailing and not even able to take care of her own child, whereby further forging her as an unreliable narrator.
This unsound, untrustworthy, and delusive narrator adds to her story bit by bit by taking us on a steadily progressive journey through her mind and through her illness by doing creepy and complex things along the way that allude to her questionable state of mind. Although this story is told during a time when popular opinion was that mental illness did not exist, the narrator undoubtedly shows alarming signs of being unstable and confused. She refers to the disturbing pattern and smell of the wallpaper along with mention of a “smooch” in the wall and of a woman creeping about. She actually adds dimension to her story when referring to and describing the actions of the creeping woman and declares, “I always lock the door when I creep by daylight” (654). This shows the reader yet another example of increasingly disturbed behavior. The mood of the story remains creepy and complex throughout as she bounces back and forth from the thoughts that there is a woman in the wallpaper and that she, herself, is the woman in the wallpaper. She declares at one point, “I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper” (655). By using the word “we”, she implies there is more than one person pulling at the wallpaper; however, it becomes evident at this point to the reader that, in fact, it is only she that is pulling the wallpaper from the wall. This is further proven when she says, “I declared I would finish it to-day! (655).
“The Yellow Wallpaper” would be a much more passive and less fascinating story if told through a third person omniscient point of view. This perspective would not allow readers into the actual mind of this character and would, therefore, not depict the authentic and precise thoughts and actions of this mentally disturbed woman. Although the third person omniscient viewpoint could possibly lead to a longer story with more information on the thoughts and ideas of all the characters in the story, much would be lost in the way of atmosphere and the haunting way the first person point of view allows the reader to feel the twisted way the narrator thinks and feels. At a point in the story, the narrator describes how she feels about the wallpaper and that she can actually smell it. She then proclaims, “I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs. It gets into my hair. Even when I go to ride, if I turn my head suddenly and surprise it—there is that smell!” (654). If this text had been narrated in third person omniscient then it would not have had the same vivid description as we got from the narrator telling it to us herself. The sheer unpredictability of the narrator keeps the reader’s interest ignited throughout the journey with the uncertainty of the next erratic and peculiar thought or action.
Stetson produces a superbly imaginative creation with her story. In the end, through the eyes of the main character and through unexpected means, one can almost feel the narrator’s quest for freedom being brought to fruition. By way of insanity, delusional behaviors, and sheer madness, she finds a way to escape. She finally escapes her husband’s control. She also escapes the control of others that do not buy into her illness, and she escapes the control of all the people that have been and continue to make decisions for her. Ultimately, she escapes her own warped mind by yielding herself totally and completely to her disease. This unreliable narrator comes to rely on herself and her newfound freedom to continue on her multifarious and tangled journey. She adds an element of chilling perplexity to the story by telling it herself rather than the readers having to attempt to comprehend it from the eyes and the mind of another.

Works Cited

Stetson, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. San Antonio: ACES, 2012. Google Books. Web, July 22, 2015.