George Cardillo
Humanities
Perception of self and reality Prove the self is definable only in relationship with exterior world. An individual cannot define himself without the influence of outside factors. In the modern world individual’s spend a lot of time on the idea of self perception. With material items and high expectation becoming more and more embedded in everyday life. An individual has to be at ease with themselves in order to have a real perception of self and reality. There are many instances where individuals may go astray and drive themself crazy trying to fit in, thinking they are different having a false perception of self and reality. An individual is only able to define him or herself if they have created relationships with the exterior world, without the influence of outside factors the individual could very possibly drive themselves crazy like we saw in
The Yellow Wall Paper and “Mirrorings”.
In the story
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman the narrator is forced into not doing anything active by her husband who is also her physician to help her recover from her temporary nervous depression. They move to a house that is isolated from the community and the narrator is moved into a former nursery where she is to rest and overcome her sickness. This is when the narrator truly becomes sick, once she has been cut off from the exterior world and left alone with her thoughts. “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house.” She begins talking about the house because thats the only relationship she seems to have throughout the short story. The more she talks about the house the more she struggles mentally,she tries to avoid her unhappiness by focusing on other things, like the yellow wallpaper. She creates a false perception of reality about the

yellow wallpaper and what is happening to her while writing in her journal. If she had people to interact with, or things to do she would not have had to sit and write in a journal until she drove herself crazy.
Unlike
The Yellow Wallpaper Lucy Grealy, the narrator in “Mirrorings”, struggles to cope with the physical aspects of perception of self and reality. Lucy overcame cancer at a very young age leaving her with a flaw on her face, she believes that some surgery will make her look more beautiful and help her relationships with others.
As a kid, she was constantly