s "Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall so that I had to creep over him every time" (1222). In most cases a villain dies but this villain was shown who the boss is. A hero usually has a sidekick. A sidekick is the hero's friend that usually is taken hostage by the villain. The women in the wallpaper tends to fit this description. The narrator treats her as a friend that she watches every night. The narrator says "I don't want anyone to get that women out at night but myself" (1219). A sidekick's courage never surpasses that of the hero. The narrator seems to have a lot of courage when she is constantly speaking with her villainous husband without the slightest fear. But the sidekick appears to be afraid of John because she does not make her presence known unless he is asleep. So the villan holds her hostage in the wallpaper during the day. There is a good possibility that the woman is the narrator's sidekick. A hero must have an obstacle to overcome that hinders them and others. The narrator seems to be very sick but her husband John will not help her get better. He treats her with outdated medical treatments and he will not try newer ones. The narrator says "I take phosphates or phosphites-whichever it is-and tonics, and air exercise and journeys, and I am absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good" (1213). If she could only have treated herself then she probably would have become more mentally stable. Though it seems the narrator is sick, her sickness is actually symbolic of her old fashioned ways of living as a women. To overcome this obstacle she becomes a new more modern woman. Another obstacle that the narrator had to overcome was her sidekick's confinement. She appeared to be trapped in the wallpaper as if it were a jail cell. The narrator says "As soo...
