This is kind of similar to Kyla's post about what makes The Yellow Wallpaper so frightening. But I want to go more in-depth about what makes insanity a terrifying concept to people.
I'm not exactly going off of psychology textbooks here, so bear with me. I would say that the fear comes down to both a loss of control and being unable to trust anything. The only thing we can really control in life is our own thoughts and actions--but take away our ability to correctly interpret what's around us and we're not really in control anymore. If your mind tells you that that man over there is dangerous and wants to hurt you, you would react accordingly either by running from him or attacking him, whether or not he actually presents any threat. Which gets to the second point about not being able to trust anything. All we know about the world around us comes from our limited senses, and if those start lying to us then there is no hope of understanding anything.
The loss of control and the deception of our senses would make us the most vulnerable and pathetic of creatures, and there's nothing one can do about it. Insanity is unlike any other foe; you can't just strike back against it. "The Yellow Wallpaper" speaks to our deepest fears of helplessness and at the same time shows us what our own plunge into madness would look like...a blow that comes too close to home for most of us.
Bennett, I think you're exactly right. The helplessness of the main character and her plunge into madness are what makes "The Yellow Wallpaper" so creepy.
ReplyDeleteThis story truly hits home because, male or female, anyone who is suffering and being treated with a "walk it off" sort of mentality would only be driven to go even further down the road to mental instability.
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