Lindsey's Literature Exploration

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman follows the narrator of the story who is a middle class woman that is "married". Readers learn, through the journals the narrator has written, that she has temporary nervous depression and slight hysterical tendencies. As the story progresses, readers observe the narrator's condition declining even more, noticeable through her remarks about the wallpaper. She becomes hysterical about the wallpaper, claiming "And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping behind that pattern" (Gilman 440), near the end of the story. The narrator believes there is a woman that creeps behind that wallpaper in order to her.   The narrator's mental illness may have been a development that occurred at some point in her life. Although it may be plausible that this type of mental illness could occur at the beginning of someone's life, this is likely not the case with the narrator. I believe the narrator in the story...

"Everyday Use" In the story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, readers follow the point-of-view of Mama, who is a hardworking person that does not fall under the norm of an "ideal" woman/mother. Mama raised two daughters, Maggie and Dee (later known as Wangero). Maggie was viewed as the underdog of the two sisters, where she tended to live in the shadow of Dee. In the story Maggie states, "'She can have them, Mama,' she said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her" (Walker 351). Evident through this example in the passage, Maggie was always used to being the unappreciated one of the two sister. In contrast, Dee was known as the perfect/ideal daughter and woman. Mama states, "Dee, though. She would always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was no part of her nature" (Walker 346). According to this quote, Dee was the type of person that would get what she wants out of the world. Things came ...