Last Posting

The literature we have read has been all very interesting. When the theme of the course is revisited we come across how the idea of change in society really has been pervasive in the texts and in the lives of the characters we have read about. Sometimes we witness how dramatic these stories can be since we take a journey to a time so much different than our own. The institution of slavery is a real part of history, yet we cringe at the struggles and hardships endured by slaves when reading slave narratives and sometimes would prefer to sugar coat this reality. I find the story that struck the biggest chord with me was Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper because it was not at all censored.” Perhaps it is because my mind seems to be so preoccupied with medical knowledge being a student of nursing, but I’m drawn to the story because it illustrates a change that has already happened in how we perceive women’s emotions and physiology. Yet, at the time this page was only beginning to turn in the lives of women. The post partum depression that inflicts the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” was so misunderstood and it pains me to read the story knowing what needs to be done is not! In essence, this story documents a woman’s gradual decline. I liked this story because as all literature does it allows you a glimpse into the human psyche into behavior and subtleties that in the conscious world we may not be aware of in people. As a nurse this is helpful because it aids the assessment process and we may be able to gather an understanding of our mental patients by a previous insight from this story. A psychologist, I feel, should be very versed in literature to be able to draw the universal themes, emotions, and dreams that present themselves to all of us. Overall, very good reading.