ind, since she is not given the opportunity to interact with anyone aside from those who restrict her. This further contributes to the central theme in that it shows that woman clearly cannot think for herself and must rely on others opinions of how she should conduct herself. John wished for the woman to simply ignore her own thoughts and to whatever he asked of her. It was impossible for her to do this and survive, since ignoring oneself is obviously self-destructive. Gilman shows through the diary type format of the story, a sort of desperation of the narrator. Gilman wants the reader to see just how oppressed the woman truly is and how her mental condition deteriorates, by allowing the reader to see what she is thinking. Her assertion at the conclusion of the story that "I have got out at last" is ironic, because although she now has the opportunity to physically get out of the prison-like room and try the cure that she prescribed for herself, she chooses to ignore it (401). She has become a complete burden to John, though her original goal was to become "such a help to John" (392). She has discovered the one place where she can have supreme control, and nothing will challenge her, apart from her own mind. But she has zero capability left to even interact normally with the outer physical world, and so it is although she isnt even there.Throughout the story, the reader is called to trust the narrator although it is clear she is going crazy, for she is the only telling the story. Gilman is able to develop the theme through this characters point of view by showing that the narrator has no choice in the world in which she lives-- she must obey the men in her life above all else. If Gilman chose any other perspective, the story would not have been able to portray the womans oppression as well, because the reader would not have been able to see into her mind as it slipped away well into insanity....
