Women and Men Are Alternative Beats of the Same Heart - Book Report/Review Example

Order 296364 Topic: English Title: Women and men are alternative beats of the same heart! Introduction: I have never come across a symposium or discussion on the topic, 'Men-their role in the society.' The discussion is always about women. Men have, perhaps, no role other than to find novel ways to oppress the women! The never-ending talk of giving equal rights to women has been going on unabated. The laws enacted by the Parliament in all the countries will not bring equality to women. The change has to be achieved within-by both men and women, mostly by men! My simple question is how can you give equal rights to women' God has created her, given her the status of more equal. Nobody can take that right away. It is the mother, who gives protection for the initial nine months, to the divine creative force of the future-male or female! The pages of human history are full of incidents related to female victimization, at every step of life in one form or the other! Is total equality for women in the true sense of the term, without any physical or mental tortures, an attainable reality' "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story of the creative genius of American writer Charlotte Perkins Gillman. It saw the light of the day, through publication in New England Magazine. What were the attitudes of men and the society towards the woman of the 19th century as for her physical and mental health' This book is thoroughly recommended for the women activists of this internet era as well. Gillman will tell you why! Do you wish to get introduced the procedure to mentally fetter a woman and suppress her thought processes' The narrator of this story whose husband is a physician will give the details of the prescription. He has confined her to upstairs bedroom and this is the important part of the procedure for her recovery from the disease she is suffering from-"temporary nervous depression." (a border-line hysterical tendency) In fine, her room, where the entry and exit are controlled by her husband, is a make-shift prison! In such grim conditions anyone will become cynical. Her descent to psychosis is heart-rending. Nothing stimulates her, nothing inspires her, and her solace is the pattern and color of room's wallpaper. Seemingly the narrator is expressive about her feelings, but her husband's subtle ways to subdue her spirits make the story poignant. The remedy arranged by him to cure her, is worst than the disease. Is her husband John overprotective or oppressive, is the question. He is both. Over-protectionism is also a negative quality. For a freedom-loving woman, this quality of her husband extinguishes the creative spirit within her. She feels trapped and has lost the direction of the journey of life. She remains destination less in the room to which she has been forcibly confined. Her flight of imagination and her desperate attempts to associate with something that would enliven her spirit, takes her to identify with the woman in the wallpaper who, according to the narrator, is behind the bar or imprisoned in a cage. The wall paper becomes her only hope. She says, "John is a physician, and perhaps-(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind--) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster." (Gillman. p.74.) The woman she sees behind the wallpaper is the inner refection (or symbol) of herself. The wall paper, which she thought is the solution-provider, becomes the problem-giver gradually. It becomes the projector of her various mental calculations. Being unable to do anything and with the feelings of self-pity piercing each and every molecule of her being, her mind runs in a hundred mad directions. Her husband has taken total control of her. The many heads in the wallpaper represent her desire to do many things, the simple joys like hosting the guests, when a woman unburdens her feelings by gossips and talking many sweet-nothings-well! She is denied all these joys of life. Finally through these desperate situations, she finds the desperate remedies, when she exclaims, "I've got out at last'in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back." She abandons the companionship of the wall paper that has been the 'living partner' in her tragic solitary confinement and provided her courage in one way or the other. By mentally associating with that wall paper she had something to look forward to. Compare the plight of the narrator to a citizen in the dictatorial regime, where the dictator decides what is good for the citizen under his control. In the name of securing the ultimate welfare for the citizens, their rights of expression, the right to further rebel-- all those qualities that safeguard one's individual freedom have been terminated and they have to live the life according to the blocks of social and economic life designed for them by the state. Their liberty to move forward is snatched. They are not to give any opinions but only to follow the directions. The protagonist's husband has decided what is good for her according to the scientific approach and which he considers totally perfect for her. He is his wife's physician and the patient-wife has simply to follow the medical advice tendered by him. That totalitarian approach is quite logical, by the medical standards, according to him. But the narrator has entirely different ideas to recoup her original health. She says, "So I take phosphates and phosphates-whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to 'work' until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good." (74-75) But who cares for her feelings and ideas' She is aware of the shortcomings of her incorrigible husband, John. He strongly believes, what he does is right-that alone is right, and nothing else. The narrator helplessly admits, "It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so." (81) When the narrator's spirits are at the low ebb, when she needs more emotional support, she has to undergo the treatment strictly by the medical rules, as interpreted by her physician husband. Part of the narrator's problem is, she recently gave birth to a child, and in modern times, her condition is known as postpartum psychosis. The line of treatment adds to her depression. Through her encounters, she finds the outer expression, to her inner turmoil. She hates the walls within which she is imprisoned and tries to reject the existence of the wall-paper. That is the obvious consequence. The scrawling pattern indicates the confusing waves within her mind. The wise saying goes--when there is no perfect discipline, carry on with the available discipline. In the state of narrator's mental conditions, she is unable to come to terms with the facilities that are at her disposal. Her surroundings with the yellow walls seem to mock her and in that hapless condition, she can be revengeful with the only thing that challenges her-the wall paper! In the end, her best friend-the wall paper-becomes her worst enemy, when she finally tears it off, and what a great psychological relief the narrator experiences! Before that, her mental projections take a strange turn! She strongly believes that negative vibrations zoom in the room, and thinks that it must have been a nursery not long ago, and like her, the children too did not like the wall paper. The narrator's description of the various patches and the yellow smears on her skin and clothing of anyone who touches it seem to be the food for thought for a magical artist or a psychologist. Yellow smears are noticed on her clothing, and it suggests that all along it is the narrator on the job of shredding the wallpaper. Early in the story, she reveals that the wallpaper has been rubbed off at her shoulder height. After becoming insane, she owns the responsibility for all the damage to the room. As long as the narrator stays in the room, the wall paper has to suffer the unpleasant consequences. With regular undisciplined scrubbings, the helpless wallpaper undergoes changed patterns, intriguing, --certainly there is a latent pattern, difficult to decipher for a normal human being as they form and take shape according to the intensity of the narrator's jealous expressions. The narrator says," I really have discovered something at last'.Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind [the wallpaper], and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over." (85) An artist can only bring out what is within the mind of the narrator by his deft strokes. . As for the narrator, there must be a method in her madness! Because a figure of a woman soon appears in the design! It must be the outer expression of her inner urges! The wall paper having reached that stage, she concludes that the figure is trying to find is future by escaping the bars from the shadows. Notice the confident statement of the narrator "There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will." (81) The mental moods of the narrator and her reactions to the existence of the wall paper keep on changing, and that is the indication of her unstable mind. She says, "I never saw a worse [wall] paper in my life. One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin! It is dull enough to confuse the eye', pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves'they suddenly commit suicide'." (76) With the sense of isolation telling upon her nerves, and with no will power in store to resist the injustice meted out to her, perhaps the narrator is finding it difficult to think straight. Her changed reactions to the same wall paper, when she is in a happy and creative state of mind are, "I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before, and we all know how much expression they have! I used to lie awake as a child and get more entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture than most children could find in a toy store." (78) The ending of the story is very strange and is liable to many interpretations. The strong-willed, disciplinarian physician John, lies on the floor unconscious, she crawls over him, rises over him symbolically, depicting that she is superior to him. The narrator tries to implicate that women are superior to men, the modern men may be willing to accept this proposition (hope so!) but during the Victorian times, such a position was unthinkable. Conclusion: I have already stated in the introduction that women are not equal to men; they are more equal! And the men in the modern times need not worry about taking over the traditional responsibilities of women. The best chefs today are men! Women are the spiritual equals of men and they need to be legal equals in all spheres of life. Life is like the scale of justice. Both arms of the scale are equally important, to strike the correct balance!--- Two different individuals, two different personalities, born, bred and brought up in two different set of circumstances, try to come together to find a common identity, a common goal in life and to be precise a common all-that is marriage! Charlotte Gillman will have no cause for worry, if she ever visits the Planet Earth again! ============== Works cited: Gillman, Charlotte Perkins: The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories Paperback: 70 pages Publisher: Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 0486298574 ISBN-13: 978-04862985 Read More