Stuck in your head
Stuck in Your Head
Being trapped in any way is a scary thought for anyone. Now picture being trapped in your own mind and not being able to escape. Imagine having no voice or being able to speak for yourself. There have been many times throughout history that women or any “minority” did not have a say in their own lives. Some cases the individuals were physically isolated from what they always known and that eventually affects them psychologically.
In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlette Perkins Gilman, the main character is stuck in her own home as well as her mind. Gillman had been in a time when women had little say in anything and the main character truly reflects women of the time. Oppression of women has been an issue forever and probably will continue to be a problem for years to come. The story revolves around a woman who is in her home with her husband and new baby. She has a consistent mention of a room with yellow wallpaper in which she spends most of her time. This woman is being isolated because her doctor husband believes that she is not in the right mental state. She does not want to care for the new baby and she does not want to be isolated to the idea of just being a housewife. In this time, that was all women were seen for. If a woman wanted to be a writer she was crazy. In the story the main character focuses a lot of her time on the wallpaper. She begins to study the strange pattern and states, “I really have discovered something at last. Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern does move-and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!” (Gilman 325.)
There is a hidden meaning
behind this simple quote. The woman is shaking the pattern due to her desire to
escape her entrapment. Now, is the wallpaper moving, no. The main character is
seeing herself within the wallpaper. She feels trapped and needs to shake on
the walls to get out. She is being forced to be isolated and it is truly
messing with her mind as well. She believes that the paper is moving, and she
eventually goes crazy and tries to rip all the paper down. That could be
symbolic of her realizing she needs to break down her own walls and truly do
what she wants to do.
The story entitled “Interpreter of the Maladies” written by Jhumpa Lahiri is a short story about a family who travels to India and they have a tour guide along the way who is very interesting. There are two specific individuals throughout the story who are truly trapped in their own mind, not in the same was as the main character in the last story, but still trapped. Mr. Kapasi is the man who is giving the family the tour throughout the story. He begins to tell the family about his job as an interpreter and Mrs.Das, the wife of the family, begins to feel as if that is “romantic”. Truly though there seems to be an underlying lack of emotion within her own relationship with her husband, Mr. Das. Mrs. Das is her head because she keeps a secret from everyone for so many years, her malady. She eventually goes on to tell Mr. Kapasi that she had conceived her son Bobby from another man and she couldn’t bear to keep that secret anymore. She believed that Kapasi was a sort of mental interpreter and not a language assistant and gets frustrated with him in the end. She cannot truly enjoy her life with this “baggage” leaning on her shoulder. She had to tell someone before she went truly crazy. Kapasi on the other hand has problems of his own. He is stuck in his head because he sees himself a s a letdown to his wife. He feels that he could’ve been doing better with his career as an interpreter, working for diplomats and such. He then begins to fantasize what life would be like with Mrs. Das as well at one point. “Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end. The promise that he would hear from Mrs. Das now filled him with the same belief” (Lahiri 21) The idea of escaping his real life and having a new woman to think about was exhilarating, he could escape his fears, start over and not let another woman down. He creates the illusion in his mind to hide himself from the truth. The brain works in mysterious ways when it comes to creating false senses of reality.
There are many real-life instances in which people are trapped both physically and psychologically. The examples that truly appeal to this most would be from the tv show Criminal minds. There are many episodes when victims ae tortured and they are both physically trapped and mentally trapped as well. there are also examples within the main characters though as well. There are two specific instances. One spans across multiple episodes and related to the same character. “Hotch” was the leader of the BAU at a a point in time and there was a man who would constantly go after solely Hotch. This man is named “Mr. Scratch”. There are many episodes in which they are fighting it out and such, but there is one in particular that relates to the theme of entrapment and psychological torture. In season 10 episode 21, Hotch is trapped within a house and he is given a chemical agent that messes with his mind. He is alone in the house waiting for his team to come to rescue him when he sees his team he is instructed to kill them. He is constantly told “Kill them” and he does. He kills his team. Now this is all in his head, but he doesn’t know that. He thinks he truly has killed his team, yet he has not. Yes, there was a chemical agent enforcing the thoughts upon him, but it is still the same idea. The other character who had been trapped was Derek Morgan. Season 11 episodes 16 through 18 are truly heart wrenching. It is another hostage situation where he is captured, and he is tortured. He begins to remember his past and think about his childhood in the times he is being tortured. He reflects on his past. He is in his head. He needs to be in his head. He cannot let these individuals get to him. He then starts to think about what makes him happy, his girlfriend and his team. Being in your head can be also beneficial in situations such as this one. Thinking about what drives you to happiness can allude your mind to other things while you are suffering. Now clearly, this is just tv, but these situations do happen in real life to individuals, it is just not something the news would talk about.
In a more “real” situation, there are many countries that entrap their people and isolate them from the real world. Many people probably must make up ideas in their heads to keep them happy. Cuba for example, the ruler keeps them so isolated from the outside world and they do not even know what is beyond their own four walls. Syria now the people are destroying the country, people are trying to escape, there are bombings. It is a hard idea to wrap one’s head around, but these things really do happen today, not just sixty years ago. Times have changed, people have gotten better, but we have a long way to go still.
Being trapped is a terrifying thought. Today we are lucky to live in such an open country where there is so many opportunities for everyone. In other countries, there are people being isolated because they are women! Still! The idea of entrapment and psychological entrapment is not archaic in any way and there needs to be awareness brought to the subject. People are truly going crazy in certain situations due to being trapped. The world has made progress there is no denial there, but unfortunately, there is still a long way to go.
The story entitled “Interpreter of the Maladies” written by Jhumpa Lahiri is a short story about a family who travels to India and they have a tour guide along the way who is very interesting. There are two specific individuals throughout the story who are truly trapped in their own mind, not in the same was as the main character in the last story, but still trapped. Mr. Kapasi is the man who is giving the family the tour throughout the story. He begins to tell the family about his job as an interpreter and Mrs.Das, the wife of the family, begins to feel as if that is “romantic”. Truly though there seems to be an underlying lack of emotion within her own relationship with her husband, Mr. Das. Mrs. Das is her head because she keeps a secret from everyone for so many years, her malady. She eventually goes on to tell Mr. Kapasi that she had conceived her son Bobby from another man and she couldn’t bear to keep that secret anymore. She believed that Kapasi was a sort of mental interpreter and not a language assistant and gets frustrated with him in the end. She cannot truly enjoy her life with this “baggage” leaning on her shoulder. She had to tell someone before she went truly crazy. Kapasi on the other hand has problems of his own. He is stuck in his head because he sees himself a s a letdown to his wife. He feels that he could’ve been doing better with his career as an interpreter, working for diplomats and such. He then begins to fantasize what life would be like with Mrs. Das as well at one point. “Mr. Kapasi used to believe that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end. The promise that he would hear from Mrs. Das now filled him with the same belief” (Lahiri 21) The idea of escaping his real life and having a new woman to think about was exhilarating, he could escape his fears, start over and not let another woman down. He creates the illusion in his mind to hide himself from the truth. The brain works in mysterious ways when it comes to creating false senses of reality.
There are many real-life instances in which people are trapped both physically and psychologically. The examples that truly appeal to this most would be from the tv show Criminal minds. There are many episodes when victims ae tortured and they are both physically trapped and mentally trapped as well. there are also examples within the main characters though as well. There are two specific instances. One spans across multiple episodes and related to the same character. “Hotch” was the leader of the BAU at a a point in time and there was a man who would constantly go after solely Hotch. This man is named “Mr. Scratch”. There are many episodes in which they are fighting it out and such, but there is one in particular that relates to the theme of entrapment and psychological torture. In season 10 episode 21, Hotch is trapped within a house and he is given a chemical agent that messes with his mind. He is alone in the house waiting for his team to come to rescue him when he sees his team he is instructed to kill them. He is constantly told “Kill them” and he does. He kills his team. Now this is all in his head, but he doesn’t know that. He thinks he truly has killed his team, yet he has not. Yes, there was a chemical agent enforcing the thoughts upon him, but it is still the same idea. The other character who had been trapped was Derek Morgan. Season 11 episodes 16 through 18 are truly heart wrenching. It is another hostage situation where he is captured, and he is tortured. He begins to remember his past and think about his childhood in the times he is being tortured. He reflects on his past. He is in his head. He needs to be in his head. He cannot let these individuals get to him. He then starts to think about what makes him happy, his girlfriend and his team. Being in your head can be also beneficial in situations such as this one. Thinking about what drives you to happiness can allude your mind to other things while you are suffering. Now clearly, this is just tv, but these situations do happen in real life to individuals, it is just not something the news would talk about.
In a more “real” situation, there are many countries that entrap their people and isolate them from the real world. Many people probably must make up ideas in their heads to keep them happy. Cuba for example, the ruler keeps them so isolated from the outside world and they do not even know what is beyond their own four walls. Syria now the people are destroying the country, people are trying to escape, there are bombings. It is a hard idea to wrap one’s head around, but these things really do happen today, not just sixty years ago. Times have changed, people have gotten better, but we have a long way to go still.
Being trapped is a terrifying thought. Today we are lucky to live in such an open country where there is so many opportunities for everyone. In other countries, there are people being isolated because they are women! Still! The idea of entrapment and psychological entrapment is not archaic in any way and there needs to be awareness brought to the subject. People are truly going crazy in certain situations due to being trapped. The world has made progress there is no denial there, but unfortunately, there is still a long way to go.
“Criminal Minds” Season 10 ep. 21
“Criminal Minds” Season 11 ep. 16-18
Lahiri, Jhumpa. “Interpreter of the Maladies.” Hougton Mifflin Company, 1999 pp 12-29
Perkin-Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The Norton Introduction To Literature, 10th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2006, pp. 315–328.
Comments
Post a Comment