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The Struggle Of Women In 'Boys And GirlAndThe Yellow Wallpaper'

Decent Essays
The short stories “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman are both stories that focus on the roles women are forced to play. However, the difference between the stories is how the author chooses to address these roles. Both of these stories are told in the first person from the perspective of a girl who struggles with accepting the expectations that have been forced upon them. Even though the stories were written at a different time, they both focus on the main struggle that women had at both time periods. However, the way that the roles are addressed in each story is very different and create different outcomes for each.
The constant battle that both girls are facing in the story is escaping the expectations set by society. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is forced to stay in her room because her husband says and no one will listen to her because she is a woman. “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus- but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad” (Gilman, 526). The wallpaper in her room is like a prison to her, which is a symbol for her life because she is caged in her own mind with her husband doing everything and commanding her like a dog.
The girl in “Boys and Girls” also has this struggle with not conforming to society. She didn’t want to work in the kitchen or act like a lady. She wanted
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