per. The narrator, with nothing else to do, is left to stare infinitely at a pattern in the wallpaper and forces herself to make meaning of what she sees. Perhaps this is to save her sanity, or perhaps her sanity is too far gone. She determines that the image is a woman trying to free herself from behind bars and begins to relate to the woman in the wallpaper.She continues to attempt to liberate this woman. The narrator wants to free the woman but the wallpaper holds her back. Similarly, the narrator wants to be free, and her husband holds her back. The woman in the wallpaper has become her sanity. I dont want to go out, and I dont want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him. Ive got a rope up here that even Jennie did not find. If that woman does get out, and tries to get away, I can tie her! (Gilman, 17-18) She wants to harness the woman, just as she wants to harness her sanity.The narrator makes reference to all the women she sees creeping outside, I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did? (Gilman 18) This is when the narrator fully becomes the woman she sees in the wallpaper. The woman in the paper only creeps during the day because John is not around. Similarly, the narrator shares this same behavior and consequently she can not creep at night because John is there and may diagnosis her as insane, putting even more restrictions on her. Again, her actions are determined and shaped by the restrictions a man has instilled upon her.Several times early in the story the narrator refers to her husband as dear John. This can be used as a means of foreshadowing. Dear John carries with it the implication of leaving a man. Eventually, the narrator allows herself to leave her husband and thus free herself from the constraints of the wallpaper.The narrator finally triumphs, Ive got out at last, said I, in spite of you and Jane. And Ive pulled off most of the paper, so you cant put me...
