I really liked "The Yellow Wallpaper." It reminds me of Poe, an author whom I particularly enjoy so that bodes well for my reception.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman creates the complicated and inconsistent narrator beautifully, a difficult feat to say the least. Gilman does more than just create this narrator she utilizes it wisely. Throughout the story the reader is kept on his or her toes trying to figure out what perspective the story is being written from and, later on, who it is that is doing the writing.
The concept of an inconsistent narrator seems to be a bit of a contradiction. The narrator is the tour guide, the conductor; he or she will direct you from point A to point B. Now some narrators get a bit confused, may make a wrong turn here and there, or maybe there is construction and a detour needs to be taken; however the inconsistent, ever changing narrator seems to not understand the concepts of a path, maybe they are on it sometimes but it isn’t really a path to be followed, it is just a destination to go from and get to (and when the rare occasion that there are no destinations, well than it is just anarchy and pandemonium—still awesome). Regardless the contradiction in the concept, it breeds some insane yet perfectly logical journey. There is some unexplainable beauty in the progressive manner of inconsistent narration, a mix of biased and unbiased, rehearsed and free form, clean and messy. This mix allows for some of the most enlightened story telling free to many more interpretations than a simple straightforward narrator would allow.
My personal favorite book is in the form of an inconsistent narrator so it may be that I personally am just partial to this form but something about the freedom of the narrator and the interpretation speak to me and I feel can speak to anyone.
The best part of this story is when the narration breaks. Gilman has the narrator jump from first person narrative in the form of journal entries to a sort of deranged (or possibly not) omniscient multi-person direct narrator and you can’t tell where it happens. And even if you just read it and flip through the pages and you can’t tell where it happens, the progression is so slow and subtle.
The narrator states “I am getting a little afraid of John” halfway through the story, one may begin to see the possibility of her personality being more than just one person, far earlier than realized on a first read through (431).
The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is well played out and interesting. It may not be the most complicated of unreliable narrators, but it gives the story some sort of intangible edge and that twisted flare.
I think it is most important when considering an unreliable narrator to consider that the narration itself is completely reliable—if it were not how could the story convey anything, the narration has to say what needs to be said—it is just the narrator himself or herself or itself or ourself or noself that lacks the structure needed to be considered reliable. (525)
Ari, is the favorite book with an unreliable narrator mentioned in this post Margarettown, or something else? I remember when I read your list a few weeks ago wondering what it was about that book, as it's one I'm not familiar with.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like the way you explain that what makes this narrator more interesting is the gradual way she slides steadily into unreliability as her perceptions become more and more skewed.
Yes! The book is the best, most puzzling book I have ever read. It is rare to remember the details of a book so vividly! (or the beauty of the narration)
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