The Yellow Wallpaper: Questions And Answers

Questions Chosen
1. What aspect of the novel allowed you to best understand the theme of racism?
Aspects of the novel that showed prominent moments of racism included the arguments between Gerald Mortlock and Jimmy Raven, Walter’s reputation because he is an Indigenous Australian, David’s fight outside the pub and all the silent moments in the pub when David and Walter entered. One scene that made me best understand the theme of racism was the scene when Gerald Mortlock was going to build a dam, but Jimmy Raven stopped him and the two started arguing. Jimmy became angry and started to tell Clarry what Jimmy thought about the situation. This problem resulted in Jimmy’s death, and when Jimmy was telling the situation to Clarry, he said, “What

The walls used to be filled with flower-wallpapers that Sadie thought would fit an old lady, rather than herself. It didn’t feel like home to Sadie. To Sadie, ”Home was the cream brick house near the sea, where she’d lived all her life” (pg. 11, lines 10-11). The wallpaper shows that Sadie does not feel like she belongs in Boort and feels that she is not at ‘home’. This is similar to how Sadie herself does not like the wallpaper and her room. When Sadie slowly gains information about her family history in Boort by travelling into the past, she slowly begins to accept herself as a member of the Boort community, by making friends, and connecting to the land. At the end, her room is painted by Ellie and David and becomes a light lilac colour. Sadie notes that the room feels bigger and lighter, and begins to like her newly painted room. The room now feels like ‘home’ to Sadie when she has accepted the fact that she belongs in Boort, and that the citizens of Boort have also accepted her, like Lachie. It is also interesting to note that the colour purple (her wall is coloured lilac) is associated with magic, peace and mystery. Magic, because of Sadie using time travel to right the wrongs of the past, peace, to symbolise the newly found acceptance and mystery, which is one of the main genres of the book and is what conceals the past. I believe that the wall symbolises Sadie’s newly found belonging in Boort because of how it changed along with Sadie’s status in Boort, which highlights her development throughout the