Mental Health

     In "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, the narrator seems to be dealing with depression. This depression is causing her to hide secrets from her husband because she believes he is belittling her mental health. While writing about her husband in her journal, she seems addicted to this yellow wallpaper on her walls. As the plot develops, the narrator becomes more fixated on this wallpaper. Whenever she wants to leave the house, her husband does not let her and her addiction grows. Throughout the story, the narrator's husband does not allow the narrator to communicate about her illness. He talks down on it and her at the same time. This makes the narrator feel hopeless and alone, thus making her illness worse until she ultimately becomes insane. She most likely would have been able to overcome her mental illness had she been able to communicate about her emotions and get real help. 

    In "The Swimmer" by John Cheever, the narrator is struggling to face reality. In the beginning of the story, the narrator seems to be blessed and living a good life filled with happiness. However, this is proved to be false as the story goes on. The narrator knowingly turns down invitations from others in order to stay hidden from reality and avoid any personal interactions with people. During his swim, he sees multiple neighbors that he talks to but can not remember personal information about them besides their names. Towards the end of the story it becomes known that his life is actually falling apart behind him. His affair becomes public information as well as the split between him and his life. Others are looking down on him and trying to avoid speaking to him because they do not want to lend out any more money to him. Rather than offering help, most of the characters in the story either push him away or refuse to help. Neddy's problems could have been avoided had he faced reality head on. If he did not turn down so many invitations, he might have more friends that he can rely on during tough times. 

    "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather is about a young man named Paul who feels alone in his own world. He feels unwanted by many including his father and his teachers. Paul has poor behavior in school and does not truly know how to display his emotions in the right time. For example, when he was called into the principle's office for a meeting with his teachers, he bowed to them when he was forced to apologize for his poor behavior in class. Unfortunately, the teachers take it as a sign of disrespect and do not understand the fact that Paul simply does not know how to properly display his emotions. Paul feels like an outcast and feels unwanted by his father because he struggles with his sexuality. His father models Paul after a merchant that the family knows. The merchant is young and married with children. Paul on the other hand does not want this lifestyle. Instead, he wants to be rich. Paul's depression can be managed if the people around him take the time to allow him to vent. If he was able to come out about his sexuality and communicate his true desires, his family and teachers will accept him and not judge him so poorly.

    The final story, "October in the Railroad Earth" by Jack Kerouac is about Kerouac's travels through San Francisco. He describes all the differences between people and how they constantly judge one another. He struggles with a sense of depression because he feels like an outcast. He feels misunderstood and like others judge him more negatively than positively. The story does not really explain how others view the narrator. Therefore it is difficult to determine how his problem could be fixed since there is not much information describing his actual problem.