An Obsession with Wallpaper

I am a psychologist at a mental hospital in California. My name is Dr. Isaac Winchester, and I have been worked as a psychologist for twenty five years. On occasion, I am asked to go meet with potential patients for the hospital and analyze them. Based on my analysis, they may or may not be taken in at the hospital.

It was a nice summer day outside when I first began meeting with Jane Fuller. I remember sitting inside my office with a fan pointed at me in an effort to keep cool. I was going over some of the files for some of the patients at the hospital when my secretary walked in. She told me that a man had called and stated that his wife had gone mad, and wanted her examined. My secretary gave me an address and I gathered up my things to go and visit Mrs. Fuller.

I was very surprised by the house that I arrived at. Typically, when I am called out, I visit run down homes. But this house was much different. It was very large, and it was obvious that someone very wealthy lived there. The lawn was well kept and there were sculptures scattered through the yard. The heat outside kept me from admiring from long and I went to knock on the door.

I was greeted at the door by a man who looked to be in his forties. He looked very tired, as if he hadn’t slept in days. He introduced himself as John Fuller, Jane’s husband. He told me that his wife’s mental condition has gotten gradually worse since they began staying in this house. John also told me that he had been acting as his wife’s doctor but her new behavior was something that he could not help with. John then led me upstairs to meet his wife.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I could hear a scratching noise from Jane’s room. John opened the door and what I saw took me by surprise. Jane was on her knees in the corner of the room, scratching her fingers back and forth on the wall. I could tell from looking at her that she was in a bad state. Her long hair was a tangled mess and her gown was torn with yellow smudges all over it.

I tried speaking to Jane to introduce myself, but all she would mutter was, “free.. trapped in the paper.. must be free.” As I stepped into the room, Jane quickly turned from the wall and gave me a cold glare. I was afraid of making her aggressive, so I remained in the doorway and watched her.

After my failed interaction with Jane, Mr. Fuller gave me Jane’s diary. He said he had taken it from the room while Jane was sleeping. Reading through the diary gave me insight on what happened to Jane. Her diary revealed to me that Jane had a history of mental illness and had a nervous breakdown in the past. Her diary contained many ramblings about the wallpaper in her bedroom. After reading through the diary I had a better understanding of what may have happened to Jane.

Jane was already mentally fragile upon arriving to this new home. While she was here, she stayed inside nearly all the time. Her isolation from the outside world is what I believe began her fascination with her wallpaper. As her obsession for the wallpaper grew, she began to see it as a symbol of herself. She even says that she could see a woman, herself perhaps, trapped in the wallpaper. After processing all of this, I have decided that Jane is not safe in her current condition and will need to be moved into the mental hospital.

Emily Grierson

Dr. Isaac Winchester’s Analysis
Potential Patient: Emily Grierson


This analysis is for the case of Emily Grierson, who is up for discussion of whether she should be admitted to a mental institute. After reading her file, I have been able to draw my conclusions of whether she needs to be institutionalized. My professional opinion on the matter of Miss Grierson is that she should be accepted into an institution.

Emily shows many signs that she has succumbed to insanity. The first sign that she has spent most of her life alone. Her father never allowed her to marry and she was kept away from the public in her house. Then, when it was believed that her suitor Homer Barron had left her, she spent the rest of her life in solitude. In my experience with patients, being in solitude for a long period of time can cause people to develop mental illnesses. Emily spent decades locked away in her house by herself. It is very likely that she could have developed mental issues for this alone.

Emily has also shown signs of being delusional. When her father died, she tried to convince the people of her town that her father was still alive. While she did eventually admit that her father was deceased, she may have at the time started losing her grasp on reality. There is also the issue with paying her taxes. Whenever the government attempted to collect any taxes from her, she would say that she was exempt from her duties and to ask Colonel Sartoris about it. However, Colonel Sartoris had already been dead for a long time when said that. Emily’s delusions with death further lead me to question her mental condition.

My final point that Emily is insane is her involvement with the death of Homer Barron. It is believed that she poisoned Homer. On top of that, she kept his corpse in her home for decades and slept in bed with it. Only an insane person would do such a thing. Emily is either a serious necrophiliac or in a state of delusion where she thinks the man is still alive.

In conclusion, Emily has shown enough signs to make me believe that her mental health is in a very poor state. She has most likely gone insane from her life of solitude and her being delusional and murdering Homer only prove it. Emily Grierson should most definitely be admitted to a mental institute.