Doe 1
Doe2
John Doe
Professor xxxx
English 1102
March 10, 2018
Controlling Homophone Men
Primarily, John from “The Yellow Wallpaper” authored by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Leroy Moffitt from “Shiloh” authored by Bobbie Ann Mason appear completely opposite from one another. John the narrators husband works as a physician who solely trusts things he can actually apprehend, while Leroy is a lost soul confused in his past, looking for a motive in life. The narrator in the “Yellow Wallpaper” is very reliant on on John, whereas in “Shiloh” Leroy’s wife Norma Jean beings to be independent living her own life. Nevertheless, the two seem more comparable than they appear to be. By connecting the two men, we see how both these men can push their significant other away by being too prohibitive.
The first resemblance between the two characters is their controlled outlooks of their wives lives. Throughout the story John repetitively refers to his wife as a baby. Primarily, he places her in the room that used to be a baby's nursery (p. 154). Then he baby names to refer to her; for instance, “blessed little goose” (p.154) and “little girl” (p.159). When she suggests proposals, he rejects it, the same way he does when she questions him to make alterations to the wallpaper (p.154). At one point in the story he even eases her as if she were an adolescent when he catches his wife awake, saying, “’Don’t go walking about like that, you’ll get a cold’” (p.159). Therefore, John demonstrates all the signs that he believes his wife is not a reliable or mature adult. As for Leroy, he enjoys to visualize his wife as she used to be back then. When he lies on the couch smoking during his wife’s musical performances, he begins to see how attractive she still is (p.233). Leroy recalls the times he would come home, he and Norma Jean would stay in the house, watching TV in bed and playing cards (p.236). She also prepared all of his favorite foods: fried chicken, picnic ham, and chocolate pie (p.236).
Another comparison is the outcome of their attitudes do not allow the husbands to give their wives what they need. John tries to control everything that the narrator does. As both a physician and her husband, he places her under trained prescription times, taking full maintenance of her (p.152). He chooses her treatment, demanding her to take phosphates and forbidding her to work until she becomes well again (p.151). John claims that the worst thing imaginable for her is to write or think about her condition (p.151). He also decides that the best thing for her to do is rest. As the story advances, John and the narrator’s relationship even reaches the po...
