Comparing Human Mind In The Yellow Wallpaper And Paul's Case
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The nature of the human mind is a difficult one to deal with on many levels, namely because we cannot know for certain what another Human is thinking. This becomes even more problematic when trying to determine the reason for a person's seemingly abnormal behavior. Because of the complexity of the human mind, it is often difficult to say with one-hundred percent certainty what mental illness people have, if they even have one in the first place, as demonstrated by the protagonists in the stories “Paul's Case” written by Willa Sibert Cather in 1905 and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Stelson in 1892. These stories have a similar theme of showcasing a main character struggling to fit in with society due to the preconceived…show more content… If anything is to be drawn from the article, its how the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper” reacted in a similar situation to the narrator. Oakley brings up Perkins note that states: She had visited in 1887 a noted specialist in nervous diseases who put her to bed and prescribed a fate much like that of the woman in the story. The eminent man told her never to touch pen, brush or pencil again as long as she lived. She followed his advice for three months and then, on the verge of what she felt to be total insanity, and with the help of a woman friend she left her husband) moved to California and established a writing career for herself (32).
This personal anecdote along with the actions of the narrator in the story accentuate the inability for doctors to know for certain how to treat a patient. The narrator's husband, the husband's friend, and the professional that Perkin's visited all gave advice that was harmful to their client likely due to their misunderstanding of the causes of the illness, or a misdiagnosis of the illness