A Farewell to Arms Vs the Yellow Wallpaper Literature & Language Essay

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A Farewell to Arms Vs the Yellow Wallpaper
The world of literature has been changing a lot over the recent past. The reasons for this change are the fact that people are changing their ways of life. Therefore, in order for the authors to write articles that remain relevant in society, they have to write about the events that are happening in the current world. It is such events that people need to be enlightened about so that they can know how to best deal with the challenges that they might face in life. However, looking at the works of authors in the past, they depict the manner in which people used to live. Therefore, these works are still relevant in the world of literature because they help people in accepting change. This paper will be an analysis of Charlotte Perkin's Yellow Wallpaper and Ernest Hemmingway's Farewell to arms. It will provide a comparison on the manner in which the two authors have different perspectives about life. They have used various figures of speech to propel their narration, hence making it easy for the reader to understand their concepts.
The yellow wallpaper was first published during a time whereby the society believed that there was a great difference between the duties of a man and that of a woman. A man was viewed as a superior person who needed to command the women on what to do and what not to do. Therefore, this called for the need of the authors to come up with works that related to the issue of masculinity and feminisms in the society. It is as a result of this trend that Charlotte wrote the novel the yellow wallpaper. Upon initially reading the story, it would seem that its central theme revolves around the psychological capacities of the narrator. This is because a significant part of it focuses on her reflection of her thoughts and ideas, as a form of escape from a controlling husband. However, a critical analysis of the whole story, and the context of when it was written, it could be seen that this reflects the ‘traditional gender gap' that was prevalent during those times. It is commonly known that gender equality has only been achieved lately. Before then women have a relegated status and were expected to be docile and meek, not only in their actions but also of their ideas and emotions. This is exemplified with the narrator's description of her husband as "controlling" and "patronizing" (Gilman, 1999). Aside from this, it could be seen that the narrator has mentioned the wallpaper as somehow resembling the bars of a cage. Consequently, this could be seen as a symbolism that reflects the status of women during that era. Therefore, Perkins was able to perfectly pass across a message to a society that deserved to be addressed on such topic. The novel advocates for feminism as seen at the end whereby the woman is able to free herself from the bondage of the husband. This depicts the beginning of a new era whereby, women could be able to make their own decisions without necessarily having to consult what the men have to say about such decisions. However, the freedom does not come easily because the narrator describes a woman who is locked in a room because she is having a nervous breakdown. She has to struggle her way ...