The Yellow Wallpaper

I definitely think that writers definitely write to affect change. This brings us back to stories that have a didactic meaning. Most of the time stories are written not only to entertain their readers but also to share a deeper meaning. This brings me to the story that we discussed on Tuesday. The Yellow Wallpaper was definitely a unique story written not only to entertain the audience but also to promote lots of different meanings. The one that I want to concentrate on is the way Gilman used this story to promote women’s rights. During this time period husbands controlled their wives and made important decisions for them. “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-what is one to do?” This statement is an example of just how men control anything they are able to. Not only is this story a good example of women being controlled but The Wide, Wide World is an even better example. Even though Ellen’s father is not around in the story he still finds ways to control Ellen and her mother. “It was a great relief to Ellen when her father ended his talking and left her to herself; for she felt she could not dress herself so quick with him standing there and looking at her, and his desire that she should be speedy in what she had to do could not be greater than her own.” Both of these stories are not only written to entertain, but are written with the thought of just how women were being treated during this time period.

Tom Sawyer Prompt

I really want to look at the national parenting aspect of this story. During our discussion we noticed that in the previous stories we have read, none of the children that we were focusing on were raised by their biological parents. This is very interesting to me considering children’s literature of the nineteenth century really focused on the relationship of elders and children yet none of these stories had the ideal parent to child relationship.
One thing that was mentioned in our discussion that I would like to focus on is the comparison between Nan Grant as a mother figure and Aunt Polly. These two characters were raising children that were not biologically theirs but yet they had a huge impact in the children’s lives. I think it’s ironic how in each story Nan Grant and Aunt Polly still took care of their biological children along with Gerty and Tom. It makes me wonder if their biological children were ever favored over Tom and Gerty. “Aunt, you don’t whack Sid when he takes it.” This quote is Tom referring to the fact that Aunt Polly never punishes her biological child Sid like she does Tom. “Her only chance of obtaining any share of the meal was to be on the spot when they had finished.” This quote is in The Lamplighter and is referring to the fact that Nan Grant’s son’s get to eat before Gerty. I believe that some parents who have mixed families have a real tendency to favor their own biological children over ones that have been adopted into their family. I think this problem is something that can be deeper looked into even today.