Symbolism is often used in literature to convey a deeper meaning or to add layer to the story. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator’s descent into madness is paralleled by the wallpaper in the room, which becomes increasingly yellow and tangled as her mental state deteriorates. This symbolizes the way that her mind is slowly becoming unraveled.
In Stephen King’s The Shining, the Overlook Hotel is symbolic of the main character Jack Torrance’s inner demons. The hotel is a place where horrific events have taken place, and it gradually takes over Jack’s mind, leading him to commit awful acts. The hotel represents everything that is dark and evil inside Jack, and ultimately leads to his downfall.
Symbolism can be a powerful tool in literature, adding depth and meaning to the story. It can be used to reflect the inner state of a character, or to foreshadow events to come. Whether it’s something as small as a color, or something as large as a building, symbolism can give new life to a story.
To begin with, I’d want to clarify that this work, to me, was a disturbing piece of fiction that reminded me of the novel (and film) “The Shining” by Stephen King. Both stories are based on the instability of the protagonist’s mental state. This tale draws from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experiences. It is the tale of a woman’s descent into madness culminating in her insanity.
This is not a feel good story by any means. The story is written in first person point of view, which immediately gives the reader insight to the main character’s mental state. The woman, who remains unnamed throughout the story, is diagnosed with a “nervous condition”. Her husband, John, a physician, prescribes herrest and seclusion in their summer home as a way to treat her “condition”.
The woman is forbidden from working and spends her days idly staring at the yellow wallpaper in the room she has been confined to. The wallpaper becomes a symbol of her deteriorating mental state. She starts to believe that there is a woman trapped behind the wallpaper and becomes obsessed with freeing her.
In the end, the woman’s mental state has deteriorated to the point where she believes she is the woman trapped behind the wallpaper. She tears off the wallpaper in an attempt to free herself and ends up crawling around the room on all fours. John finds her in this state and faints. The story ends with the woman still crawling around the room, suggesting that she is still trapped in her own insanity.
The yellow wallpaper is a symbol of the main character’s deteriorating mental state. It represents her descent into madness and serves as a reminder that sometimes things are not always as they seem.
In the perspective of the mental patient, everything is seen. She talks about her everyday routine, focusing on the yellow wallpaper. The wallpaper’s rickety state was a metaphor for the characters’ psychological instability.
The house is set back from the road, down a long driveway, and is surrounded by woods. Immediately, the reader gets a sense of isolation. The setting creates an ominous tone, which is furthered by the narrator’s description of the house as having “an air of desolate desolation”(p.157).
The family has come to this remote location in an attempt to help the narrator recover from a nervous condition. John, a physician, does not want his wife to be seen in public in her current state and believes that complete rest and seclusion will be the best course of treatment. The narrator goes along with his plan but quickly becomes frustrated with the lack of stimulation. She spends her days lying in bed, looking out the window, and staring at the wallpaper.
The wallpaper becomes a symbol of the narrator’s mental state. She becomes fixated on it, seeing patterns and images in the design. The wallpaper comes to represent her oppression and confinement. It represents her husband’s control over her and her lack of autonomy. The wallpaper also symbolizes her descent into madness. As she stares at it, she begins to believe that there is a woman trapped behind the pattern. She becomes obsessed with freeing this woman and soon starts to identify with her.
The Shining is another example of a story that uses symbolism to depict a character’s descent into madness. The Overlook Hotel, where the majority of the story takes place, is a symbol of the protagonist’s isolation and mental state. The hotel is cut off from the outside world and surrounded by deadly woods. It is also filled with dark secrets and hidden horrors. As the story progresses, the hotel begins to take on a life of its own, representing the protagonist’s deteriorating mental state.
Both The Yellow Wallpaper and The Shining use symbolism to show how a character’s environment can contribute to their descent into madness. In both stories, the protagonists become isolated in remote locations where they are cut off from the outside world. This isolation amplifies their mental problems and leads to their downfall.
The key difference between the two stories is that in The Yellow Wallpaper, the protagonist is a woman who is oppressed by her husband and has no autonomy. In The Shining, the protagonist is a man who is struggling with alcoholism and has a history of violence. Both stories show how different factors can contribute to a person’s mental instability.
The narrator tells us why she is being cared for in this enormous house. It appears as if her husband, a physician, has diagnosed his wife with a mental order that resembles depression. His treatment for her was rest and relaxation in peaceful silence. As a result of this, she’s been placed in an upstairs room with a bed secured to the floor and wallpaper that quickly becomes the story’s main theme.
The wallpaper is a yellow, old fashioned design which the narrator grows to despise. She becomes obsessed with it, and starts to believe that there is a woman behind it, trying to get out. The story takes a turn for the worse when the narrator decides she must free the woman, and ends up harming herself in the process.
Symbolism plays a huge role in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The wallpaper itself is symbolic of the restrictions put on the narrator by her husband. He doesn’t want her to think or write, because he believes it will make her condition worse. The fact that the bed is bolted to the floor symbolizes how trapped she feels. She can’t even move around freely in her own room.
The shine from the wallpaper also symbolizes how the narrator is slowly losing her grip on reality. In “The Shining”, the Overlook Hotel is symbolic of the mental institution that the main character, Jack Torrance, is eventually committed to. The hotel represents his descent into madness. Just like the wallpaper starts to drive the narrator crazy, the hotel starts to drive Jack insane.
Both “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Shining” use symbolism to represent the mental decline of their main characters. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the wallpaper represents the restrictions that are put on the narrator by her husband. The shine from the wallpaper symbolizes how she is slowly losing her grip on reality. In “The Shining”, the hotel represents Jack’s descent into madness. The hotel starts to drive him insane.
