journal 32

Nika Bogoslovsky
3/3/08
Gilman

Quote: "...John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon as put fireworks in my pillowcase as to let me have those stimulating people about now."

Summary: The main character is sick and she wants some company because she feels it would make her better. Her husband, John, won't allow it because he thinks it's bad for her to be social and have conversations that actually require some brains.

Response: I read this story in English 1B and then, like now, I thought it was a story about a woman struggling against her dominant husband for rights. I know in class we were discussing what everything might mean and that the main character could be crazy on her own but I think her husband puts her in that situation. I do fully believe that it is an empowering story for women and is meant to be, just like Kate Chopin’s The Awakening or The Story of an Hour. These early feminist stories seem to be a common theme at the time most likely because of the rising tension of inequality between men and women. It’s very clear that throughout the story, the more John restrains the woman, the more mad she becomes. He doesn’t comfort her at all, he’s gone a lot of the time, and he won’t let her do anything human beings need to be content. As much as it seems crazy, by tearing down all that paper she got his attention. But anyone who’s locked up in a house without love, friends or a few books, in a room that freaks you out is bound to crazy at some point anyway. John really did ask for it.