Depression In Ernest Hemingway's The Yellow Wallpaper

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The author uses internal conflict to show a woman’s struggle to overcome depression. One struggle that the narrator faces personally is the way she feels towards her husband. She blames her mental illness for the way she feels about John who now makes her mad. The narrator writes, “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes. I’m sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it’s due to this nervousness condition” (222). Readers see how she now resents her husband because he doesn’t understand her. She feels misunderstood and belittled by him. This lowers her self- esteem which can causes her to struggle with depression. Another conflict the narrator struggles with personally is her wanting to be around her baby. She seems to distance herself from her baby due to her mental state. She states that. “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (222). Readers see how the narrator may be struggling with postpartum depression; therefore, she doesn’t …show more content…

The narrator’s thoughts are seen in the story. During her stay at the house she fights the urge to write because her husband claims it is not good for her. She sometimes thinks that if she is “only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press ideas and rest me” (223). The narrator recognizes that if she writes in her journal, it will help her break through this depression. The narrator loves to write and believes it will help her relieve her negative thoughts which can be cause by depression. In the end, she locks herself in her room and writes, “I don’t want to go out, and I don’t want to have anybody come in, until john comes. I want to astonish him” (228). Readers see how she is no longer herself but a complete insane person. She forgets who she is and begins acting as a child. This can be a result of her giving into

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