Reader Response Revised: "The Yellow Wallpaper"

John suppresses the narrator's feeling of fulfillment in her life which leads to her mental breakdown. The narrator wants to be of help to John but he does not allow her to. She notes, " I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!" ( 14). She is deemed useless in the eyes of her husband and she considers herself a burden. The narrator observes "Jennie sees to everything now" (18). Her boredom eventually leads to her breakdown. Her boredom is what leads her to her increasing insanity and her obsession with the wallpaper. The narrator says, " I lie here on this great immovable bed. It is nailed down, I believe- and follow that pattern about by the hour" (19). The narrator is left alone so often that she allows herself to get lost in the wallpaper and amuses herself the only way she knows how. John's ignorance about his wife's abilities and needs directly connect to her mental breakdown.