The narrator states that there was a woman trapped by the bars in the background. It is like a prison she is locked in and coincides with the narrator as she is also forced to sit in a room alone. It is also symbolic of the relationship between John and his wife. As the narrator looks deeper and deeper into the background, she is really just observing her life. The yellow wallpaper really changes the narrator and her mind and she starts to dislike John. The narrator is dealing with postpartum depression and many depressed people are usually stuck in their own minds. It's as if your vision is just a window that you can see out of, but you can't escape. The narrator sees herself in the background and tries to escape because she is also trying to escape her depression. Towards the end of the story John's wife begins to tear the yellow wallpaper and as she tears it it is as if she is helping the woman inside the wallpaper, who is herself, to