Conflict in The Interior Castle by Jean Stafford
The Interior Castle by Jean Stafford is a very disturbing but thought-provoking story of a woman who creates a separate world within her head after being severely injured in a car accident. The conflict of the story is Pansy’s attempted escape from pain. Throughout the story she develops an incredibly intricate world within her own mind. She attempts to run from the pain she feels by retreating into this world in which she has made for herself.
After arriving at the hospital with severe facial and cranial injuries due to a car accident, Pansy Vanneman began to lock herself away within her head in silent, unspoken hopes of escaping the terrible pain that surged throughout her body. She spoke mainly to herself within her head and very rarely graced the nurses or attendants with any words at all. She began to wrap her entire existence around what she thought was her one true reason for living: her brain. She did not necessarily worship her mind, but it was the organ itself that intrigued her. In the accident, her brain had been unscathed and she now believed it was some magnificent being that was above anything or anyone that came in contact with her.
Throughout the story, Pansy tries to escape any form of pain she feels by retreating deep into her mind, her “jewel”, as she called it. Even gazing out of the window from her hospital room causes her some form of pain. She sees nothing but death and sadness in the world as she gazes upon the cold, lifelessness of winter. Everything appears cold and dead to her. Her escape is always into her “sacred brain”, as she thought it should be called.
It seemed from time to time, her brain would let her down in one way or another. The bra...
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...for by throwing herself around in such ways, she ran back into her mind, hoping to escape any damage that might be done to her.
Still, in the end, her brilliant brain, lying in its “shell-pink satin case”, could not save her from the pain. It couldn’t stop the physical pain of her injuries and it couldn’t block out the reality of the real world. She felt it had failed her by allowing her to be violated by such hurt as the good Dr. Nicholas had inflicted upon her. It could not even shut out the fact that she would one day have to return to the world in which everyone else lived. She lay there, in horrible pain, with what she now referred to as her “treasureless head”. Pansy believed her brain to be so superior to all things; she thought it could shut out the real world for the rest of her life. When she realized it could not do so, it suddenly lost its worth.
In this touching, non-fiction memoir by Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle recounts the story of her vagabond upbringing in the 1960‘s. Walls notes her parents lack of conformity while also showing their unconditional love, in rather unconventional ways. While touching the bases of alcoholism, poverty and child neglect, the author still maintains the point of a passionate determination to preserve the alliance with her siblings through it all.
Australia has the terrible condition of having an essentially pointless and prefabricated idea of “Aussiness” that really has no relation to our real culture or the way in which we really see ourselves. We, however subscribe to these stereotypes when trying to find some expression of our Australian identity. The feature film, The Castle, deals with issues about Australian identity in the 1990’s. The film uses techniques like camera shots, language and the use of narration to develop conflict between a decent, old fashioned suburban family, the Kerrigans and an unscrupulous corporation called Airlink. Feature films like The Castle are cultural products because they use attitudes, values and stereotypes about what it means to be Australian.
The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch, is an Australian comedy, which delves into the lives of a stereotypical Australian family, the Kerrigans. The film touchs on issues close to home in a humourous way. The audience is introduced to the classic Aussie family, narrated in the viewpoint of the youngest of the Kerrigans, Dale.
The Glass Castle is a memoir of the writer Jeannette Walls life. Her family consists of her father Rex Walls, her mother Rose Mary Walls, her older sister Lori Walls, her younger brother Brian Walls and her younger sister Maureen Walls. Jeannette Walls grew up with a lot of hardships with her dad being an alcoholic and they never seemed to have any money. Throughout Jeanette’s childhood, there are three things that symbolize something to Jeannette, they are fire, New York City and the Glass Castle, which shows that symbolism gives meanings to writing.
By closing her off from the rest of the world, he is taking her away from things that important to her mental state; such as her ability to read and write, her need for human interaction, her need to make her own decisions. All of these are important to all people. This idea of forced rest and relaxation to cure temporary nervous problems was very common at the time. Many doctors prescribed it for their female patients. The narrators husband, brother, and their colleagues all feel that this is the correct way to fix her problem, which is practically nonexistent in their eyes. Throughout the beginning of the story, the narrator tends to buy into the idea that the man is always right and makes excuses for her feelings and his actions and words: "It is so hard to talk to John about my case, because he is so wise and because he loves me so," (23).
The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls is a true story memoir, which introducing family which consists of four children, a neglectful mother and an alcoholic father. This family is constantly confined by poverty and foolish decision making on the part of the parents (reword this it sounds awkward). Despite these obstacles, Jeannette Walls is able to progress forward and to be successful, thus proving that she indeed is the “fittest of all”. She proves that she is the fittest of all because of her ability to survive life and death situations, her ability to adapt without her parent’s, and her ability to remain determined in trying to achieve her goals.
... seemingly trapped inside the yellow wallpaper, when she sees that constant face of the woman trapped inside, again she sees or is just seeing herself because her, herself is trapped and falling into insanity.
There is an unwritten rule when having children stating that you should be able to support and provide for your family. Sadly this isn’t always the case. In our society many families face destruction due to the simple fact that some parents exclusively pursue individual priorities. This is a major factor explained by numerous homeless individuals who have had both their homes and families ripped away from them due to addictions. It is a clear indication that people only pursue what they desire without consideration of the consequences that could be inflicted on both themselves and others. In the memoir The Glass Castle, author Jeannette Walls demonstrates
What is the source of your success? My own definition of success is about overcoming my obstacles and hardships. If I can’t overcome the obstacles and hardships along the way, then I will try again so that I am more prepared and have the right knowledge. I want to meet obstacles and hardships because I want to feel the pleasure of success when I overcome them. In order for me to overcome and embrace hardships, I need to find the missing link, have the right knowledge, and practice effective time management.
Gilman shows through this theme that when one is forced to stay mentally inactive can only lead to mental self-destruction. The narrator is forced into a room and told to be passive, she is not allowed to have visitors, or write, or do much at all besides sleep. Her husband believes that a resting cure will rid her of her “slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 478). Without the means to express herself or exercise her mind in anyway the narrator begins to delve deeper and deeper into her fantasies. The narrator begins to keep a secret journal, about which she states “And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think in some way - it is such a relief” (Gilman 483)! John tells his wife that she must control her imagination, lest it run away with her. In this way John has asserted full and complete dominance over his wife. The narrator, though an equal adult to her husband, is reduced to an infancy. In this state the narrator begins her slow descent into hysteria, for in her effort to understand herself she fully and completely loses herself.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a harrowing and heartbreaking yet an inspiring memoir of a young girl named Jeannette who was deprived of her childhood by her dysfunctional and unorthodox parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls. Forced to grow up, Walls stumbled upon coping with of her impractical “free-spirited” mother and her intellectual but alcoholic father, which became her asylum from the real world, spinning her uncontrollably. Walls uses pathos, imagery, and narrative coherence to illustrate that sometimes one needs to go through the hardships of life in order to find the determination to become a better individual.
realises what it has done to her. At the beginning of the play she is
He put his hand onto the cold glass pane. He felt far away from himself. He imagined putting his fist through it and the jagged hole in the pane and the points of the glass still attached to the wood. He imagined dragging his wrist and his arm against them so they would cut into him. He didn’t think he would feel it. He pictured putting his face through the glass and wondered if he would feel all the pieces cut him.
The protagonist severely suffered nervous breakdowns frequently due to the fact she was indoors and never got a change of scenery. John, her husband, is a physician. “You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression,- a slight hysterical tendency, - what does one do?...John does not know how much I suffer..” (Gilman 131,134) Although John does realize there is something wrong, he never fully understands her struggles of being trapped inside which is causing this anxiety and depression. This quotation helps exemplify the true meaning of suffrage the character was facing. His false accusations of what is really going on in her life causes her insanity. Basically, because she is trapped, it makes her focus on the smallest details within the whole house. The narrator dwells on the yellow wallpaper in her bare room. “The pain and paper look as if boys’ school had used it. It is stripped off-- the paper-- in great patches all around the head of my bed, about as far as I can reach, and in a great place on the other side of the room low down. I never saw a worse paper in my life.” (Gilman 133) Everytime she sees this wallpaper it is almost as if it is mocking her. She can’t look away and instead she takes a deeper look. This wallpaper is the cause of her nervous breakdowns because the room she spends most of her time in is dreadful. “This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had.” (Gilman 135) She is so lonely and has nothing to occupy her with so all she can do is keep her focus on the terrible wallpaper. She becomes delusional. Constantly reminding the reader of how hard it was for a women to express themselves during this time period is continuously evident
Through this, she starts wearing more westernized clothing instead of saris that now symbolize the solitude of being a window. She proceeds to ready herself so she can face the remonstrations of her in-laws and begins embracing her new life in America. During her experience, she learns to accept that pain is not always an obstacle, but a way to move forward.