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.