Luis Perez

Period 4
O’keefe

The short story, “Chess”, created by Aimee Nezhukumatathil has an influence

on the world as a whole because the connection it gives with chess to the real world makes one
realize that in reality the game of chess can relate to how a relationship can be and what effect it
has on someone. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by ​Charlotte Perkins Gilman also has an effect on the
world because in the story it allows for one to see what certain illnesses can do to a person and
also the thoughts that come into one's mind that may affect you or a relationship negatively.
In Aimee’s short story it provides multiple points from the speaker that an actual
person can identify and say to themselves that them too have been in that situation. “Exactly four
different men have tried to teach me how to play.” This figurative languages coming from a
female's perspective means that there can always be trials and errors when finding the right
person for you because some men might just not be the one best suited for you. It also states in
the text “I could never tell the difference between a rook or bishop, but I knew the horse meant
knight.” This shows that a woman is looking for a “knight” someone that will protect them and
save them from whatever which makes the meaning of the knight in the quote, the other pieces
are men that don't attract a woman's attention. This is all said in the beginning of the story but in
the end it says “Every turn, every sacrificial move- all the decoys, the castling, the deflection-
these will be both riotous and unruly” These are words that someone would use when playing the
games chess which can all add up to someone being tricked and played with or a more simpler
way to put it, cheated on. Ones moves when cheating can relate to the game of chess because you
can be manipulated to believe one things that is happening but then something else would be
sneaking around to bite you from behind.
“These will be both riotous and unruly, the exact opposite of what she thought she
ever wanted in the endgame of her days.” This quote identifies the feeling one feels when they
have something/someone go south and not the way they thought it would be, in this case would
be the man cheating on the lady. One can be impacted by this because when you feel a strong
love for your partner and they end up cheating it breaks you in the end because that was never
something you wanted to hear nor would you have ever thought that they would do such actions.
The “endgame” means the final stage of a game, in this case chess being the game. This
symbolizes the end of the relationship and allows people to make a connection to this because
not everything goes the way you wished it would sometimes. I also feel the impact from this
story because there have been situations that I've been in, having to do with relationships, that
have broken me because I was too blinded by the joy of it and separated from true reality of it.
When you think about it, it is not the worst thing that can happen to you, if anything it allows
you to learn more about yourself and have time to yourself so that you’re able to become
mentally stronger and not go in the same path next time. The same way that I did this is the way
that others handle it as well, they rebuild themselves and become more cautious when it comes to
relationships so that they do not get hurt again. You learn to have patience and wait for your
moment to come and not go looking for it because that may be your downfall. Going back to the
first piece of evidence that I used at the beginning of this text, that helps to show why a person
should be patient because one may never know if that's what they truly want, as the lady had
thought in the text.
Diving back into the story it said “And the months and the honeyed years after that
will make all the light.” With this being in the middle of the story it helps to add on to my main
point that i'm trying to make because it builds up to the final outcome. The use of the word
“Honeyed Years” and “Light” shows whats is expected after meeting someone you want to be
with, you would expect happiness in the long run if they feel the same way towards you. Aimee
Nezhukumatathil’s transition in her short story from the game of chess to then talking about the
relationship shows how she is trying to have the reader comprehend the interrelationship
between the knight and other chess piece to that of a man because in the beginning of the short
story the idea the story having to do with men is not conveyed.
In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” the author Charlotte Perkin Gilman shows
manys thoughts that come from the narrator who has a mental illness. In the text it states “but
John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it makes me
feel bad.” This tells the reader that one can be affected by something that wasn’t even meant to
be said in a bad way, but it got to the narrator's head and made her feel a certain way. People can
feel this way when someone tells them something that has to do with a serious topic such as just
saying “It’s going to be fine, don't worry about it too much” To someone about a serious topic
will probably not help and make them just overthink it because of the seriousness behind their
situation. The person may also think that what they think does not matter if you have some type
of illness, which can ruin a relationship if its your spouse that is helping you. Another way that
Charlotte's short story can impact the reader states in the text​ “​But John says if I feel so, I shall
neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself-- before him, at least, and that
makes me very tired”. This shows that when a person has an illness and has someone else in
there life to take care of them, they will make that person take the medication for their illness
because its for their own good but in this case the narrator does not like taking the medication
because it messes with her mind, but John the husband makes her take it as if her opinion is not
important.
There are many similar situations like this in the real world that people have to go
through just like john and the narrator, which shows that if someone who is in their situation read
the short story, they would be able to relate to it as well because of how into detail it gets when
talking about the thoughts that the narrator has and the actions of her husband John. The actions
of John made the marriage toxic because in the text it states “I even said so to John one
moonlight evening but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window.” Another quote
that was said “I suppose John never was so nervous in his life. He laughs at me so about this
wall-paper!”. These quotes are showing that John isn’t taking anything that the narrator is saying
seriously and the quote also can have an impact on people because if their friend or spouse isn’t
listening to them and kinda just making it seem that they aren’t making sense, then this will only
make that person feel neglected in a way. As you read this, you notice that the narrator says most
of these things in her head as would any regular person because she knows that her opinion isn’t
being paid attention to.
Charlotte was specific enough to allow an understanding from the perspective of
the narrator, enough so that anyone who reads the story knew what was going on. The way she
built the narrator's illness and relationship with the husband can add on to how the story has an
impact on the reader because the sanity of the narrator being lost and all the littles details that
Charlotte added is actually something that happens to mental patients. Some examples of
illnesses that are related to the one that the narrator has are Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or
schizophrenia. These are all diseases that can cause hallucinations as the narrator was
experiencing. This has an impact on the reader/world because this is something important that
people need to take into account. Mental patients don’t think normally which should make others
be more precautious when around them so that they know the right actions to take and how to
treat those people. You should not treat a person with an illness the way that John does because
as you already saw, the narrator does not like the way John goes about things with her.
Truly both stories have their own evidences and information that can have an
actual impact on a person, as well as their own train of thought, through the use of the game of
chess and the illness and relationship with the narrator, this can be looked at to change one's way
of thinking to be able to comprehend relationships better and know what is being looked for. All
of this comes off as important information that can be taken in and used in future situations for
myself and others if anything ever comes up as such. No one reading these stories will just see it
as a normal story, it will make you think and try to find out what the story is trying to say and the
symbolism around it, as I explain these stories and their impact I see the symbolism to be
informative to the reader so that Charlotte and Aimee the authors can get a point across as well.