The narrator’s mental health hinges not only on whether<span> she has work to do, but </span>what kind<span> of work it is. She wants to write and isn’t allowed, something that “</span>does<span> exhaust her a good deal” (3). The subtle undermining of her confidence as a writer doesn’t exactly help to repair the damaged relationships she shares with her husband and her sister-in-law, sending her further into a frenzy of paranoia that leads to her mounting obsession with the design of the paper on her bedroom wall.</span>
