“The yellow wallpaper:” a symbol for women While the narrator presents a dangerous and surprising vision of the world of depression, Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces a completely revitalized way of telling stories using the classic elements of narrative. Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper” combines a multitude of story elements that cannot be replicated. His extensive use of adjectives and terrifying descriptions of wallpaper bring together a story that is both frightening and intensely well told. Using the story's few characters and remote setting, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the wallpaper itself as both a representation of the narrator and the story's theme, as well as a symbol of her descent into the abyss of madness. At the beginning of the story, the scary details begin. to unfold around the room, including: barred windows, a bolted bed, and of course, the wallpaper itself (227). Gilman uses imagery to create an air of suspense and insinuates the narrator's next fall into madness. The setting of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” in general, leads to the collapse of the narrator. Almost instantly, the narrator's already unstable mind senses a spookiness that begins to unnerve her even more. Her tense mind is then further pushed towards madness by her husband, behind that external pattern the dark shapes become clearer every day” (231). Once again, the narrator uses the background to convey her emotions. Just as the shapes in the background become clearer to the narrator, in her mind, she is having the epiphany that John has control over her. The narrator then truly falls into the realm of madness. She begins to distrust John, stating: “He asked me all sorts of questions too, pretending to be very affectionate and kind. As if I couldn't see through him” (235). His distrust reveals that his mind has truly discovered how burdened it is. He then brutally begins to tear the wallpaper off the wall (236). This "crazy" act only serves to show how lost the narrator's mind is. The narrator also reveals that she has a rope that she will use "if that woman comes out and tries to escape, I can tie her up" (236). The woman is a symbol of the narrator's pre-nervous disorder personality. She essentially uses the statement to say that if the woman she once was runs away, she will be hanged