The Yellow Wallpaper

Andrea Antomattei

10/21/14

English

Pro.Alexander

The Yellow Wallpaper

1. Is this a ghost story?

    

           I believe based on the facts given in this short story, that this is a ghost story.

The narrator was experiencing horrific images of a woman being behind the paper. She couldn't sleep at night, she didn't like being alone, and she was afraid of what was behind the wallpaper. I know in the basic, a ghost is something that is “an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image.”

We know there is nothing dead in the house but the the narrator's belief of that there is something wrong with the wallpaper can be included of what is a “ghost”. Also the “manifest to the living” is another proof of there being a ghostly like feeling in the house because the wallpaper first haunts the main character but then surprisingly flows to the husband and nanny; in making them touch and stare at the paper. Making everyone question,what is with the wallpaper.

        Then in story, the description of the wallpaper gives the reader a chilling and suspense effect, which again can be included to the description of a “Ghost”. In paragraph 16, pg.2 the narrator explains the first feeling of her presence in the house, “That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don't care - there is something strange about the house - I can feel it.” It is alerting that the narrator used creepy words in this quote because it makes sure that the readers  know the chill going on with the narrator. How “ghostliness” is used to describe her soul feeling the loneliness of the house but her strong attitude of not caring about her fear of the house, she is believed that there is something wrong with the house.