Essays

Essay on "Yellow Wallpaper" and "The School"

2021

Plot and character are used to develop short stories and highlight the story's central theme. Most people prefer stories concentrating on the character or language to bring out the story's central theme. The characters and plot make the story; one cannot exist without the other. The plot cannot be compelling if there are no people or other characters, and the deeds perfumed in the story combine to bring out the intended themes. There cannot be events with no character; if the narrator tells the whole story, it will be more of a report. In the short stories "The School" by Donald Barthelme and "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the plot and characterization have been used to bring the story's main themes. This paper will compare the character and plot in both short stories.

Donald Barthelme wrote "The school," and it begins with the narrator, who was a teacher describing the death of the orange trees in school. The short story is considered flash fiction as the narrator opens it wondering why the trees were dying on the school farm (Barthelme). He painted the picture for his students and later discovered their snakes had also died three weeks ago. He contemplates the confusion surrounding the death of more plants and animals on the school farm. There is disturbing humor in the story. Each joke in the story contributes to the overall point of view in the story. The humor also anticipates the reader's expectation of upholding them, as he only knows more deaths are coming in the story.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story published by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It details the deterioration of a woman's mental health and her obsession with the yellow wallpaper as she was on her 'rest cure.' The narrator begins by describing her move to the beautiful estate, and the sick woman is hosted in a house with ugly wallpaper (Gilman). She is convinced to change the room but was seen driven crazy by the wallpaper. She starts at it all time and even says there is a woman in the wallpaper altering the wallpaper's pattern, and she is always watching her. The story is seen to be used as symbolism, and throughout the story, it is seen how things come naturally to the woman. She forces herself to act like she is recovering as she wants to be an excellent wife, but she only suffers in bed.

The plots in both stories are different and used to bring very different themes to the reader. However, the narrators have used symbolism and humor in the stories, which makes them interesting for any reader. The stories are short and only have one central theme, which is easy to understand. There are few characters in both stories used to build the pot.

In "The School," the teacher—Edgar, is the main character, and there are the students who listen to the story. Edgar was first unsure and hesitant about himself, and the traits are seen through his speech, where he repeated most phrases and used filler words (Barthelme). He also used his act of conviction while talking about trees and animals' death on the school farm. As the story ends, the narrator shows how the young children seem innocent, but at some point, they fail to behave as innocent as they look. Children often struggle to deal with death's reality, but the children in this story seem different with no such trouble.

The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" has lost touch with the outer world to come into an understanding of the inner reality of her life. The narrator sank into a fascination with the yellow wallpaper and became detached from her day-to-day life. She portrays how women in society are forced to hide behind domestic issues in their life; to be one of them; she needed rescue (Gilman). The main character had to lose herself to understand her inner self, but she was torn apart while trying to free herself.

In both stories, the narrators are the main characters who portray social issues but in different settings. The narrator in "The School" shows death and how it affects the young in society. He brings it all out using humor, but some of the students he narrated the story to were not afraid of death. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" portrays the challenges faced by women in society. Most women suffer from domestic violence, and the narrator had to lose herself to find her inner self, which was challenging for her.

In the short stories, the character and plot are used to bring out the author's main themes. In both short stories, the narrators are the main characters and have been used to bring out different social challenges. Character and plot must be used together and cannot be separated to make the story useful for the audience.

Works Cited

Barthelme, Donald. "The school." his Sixty Stories. New York: EP Dutton, Inc (1982): 309-312.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper?." Advances in psychiatric treatment 17.4 (2011): 265-265.