Comparing functions of the diary in the yellow wallpaper to the fathers books in the boat

On the hand, “The Boat,” is about the life of a father who was a fisherman. He is a nostalgic adult male reflecting the time his parents were still populating. He longs for the past lifestyle despite having achieved a university education. His father wanted a better life for him. He eventually became a writer (MacLeod 224). At one point she describes the diary as, “dead paper and a great relief to the mind” (Gilman 120). It is notable that when John forbids her from writing, and she must stay away from it, her condition deteriorates, and her illness increases. She shifts from the creative outlet and starts deciphering the yellow wallpaper. The narrator reveals herself through the diary as she puts the writing in a first-person perspective mimicking that of a journal.

Readers can, therefore, visualize her life as they intrude into the feelings and personal thought of the narrator. The diary also acts as the narrator’s company. It is personified since it is the only object the narrator can interact with. She does not have anyone to talk with, confide in and listen to her. She resorts to writing her thoughts in the secret diary venting out her endurance. Despite being emotive and forces readers to rely on a single perspective, the one-way conversation with the diary keeps the narrator going. The father, unlike his parents, got university instruction (MacLeod 224). He is educated and freed from the imprisonment of the world. His parent had desired the best for him, a life different from theirs.