The Yellow
...ce where the main character will stay, Gilman is delineating women’s status in society as a child; basically under the care and control of an adult. The woman in the story is treated and talked to as if she were a child by her husband: “Bless her little heart,” said he with a big hug, adding “She shall be sick as she pleases” (421). He at no point treats her as an equal, but rather as someone whom he must take care of and dominate. This how Gilman felt women in society at that time were treated in the male-dominance society. She presents the main character as a victim of oppressive patriarchal society that restricts her freedom, denies creativity and prevents her from behaving as a normal human. In other parts of the story, the author writes that John laughs at the woman’s ideas or dismisses them since he is a physician, his word is expected to be taken as gospel, and little concern is placed on what the woman feels would be best. Her idea to stay in a room that she finds relaxing is not considered, since John thinks the room with the yellow wallpaper is most practical. The woman knows that writing is one outlet to express herself, but John tell her he thinks it is “the very worst thing [she] could do in [her] condition”. She continues to write but always feels guilty for disobeying her husband. As her journey into madness continues, she begins to see the shape of a woman in the wallpaper of her room and becomes obsessed with “rescuing” her. The woman in the wallpaper is a symbol of her confinement and eventual liberation. In the final scenes of the story, as she tears down the wallpaper in an act of madness she exclaims, “I’ve got out at last, in spite of Jane! And I pulled out most of the paper so you can’t put me back” (426). She believes that she has essentially freed herself and through this, Gilman is calling on women in society to free themselves and assert their liberty. The madness into which the main character descends is actually an act of affirmation, and a form of freedom that rejects the thoughts and behaviors towards woman in this irrational society. At the same time, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” seems at first glance to be simply a story about an angel falling from heaven, and the village coming to terms with that occurrence. A closer look reveals the author’s criticism of the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church. One would think that an angel falling to earth would lead people to rejoice and consider the miraculous possibilities. In this story, however, the angel is viewed as a threat throughout the authorities of the church. No one suggests awe, love or even simply being nice to the stranger with wings. The hypocrisy of the church is most clearly evident in the village priest, Father Gonzaga, and his interactions with the angel. When he first examines the fallen angel he declares that “nothing about him measures up to the pious dignity of angels”. He further dismisses the angel when he doesn’t respond to the priest’s question in Latin. He warns the v...