Despite her upset and disagreeing tone, she hides her willingness to protest and suggest a better or rather, less torturous form of a cure. " Am absolutely forbidden to 'work' until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.
But what is one to do? I did write for a while in spite of them; but it DOES exhaust me a good deal-having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition"(Gilman 62). Already in the beginning of the story, there is a great deal of miscommunication between the narrator and her husband. Through the lack of sharing her thoughts of disagreement with her husband and other physicians, we see that the main character is uncomfortable and is unable to be open about how she really feels. Instead, she is quiet and sneaky with her attempts to do anything which is slightly creative or expressive. Gilman successfully conveys the idea of communication not existing between this couple. Not only is the narrator dismissive about the orders which are given to her, but she does not argue one bit with her husband. "John laughs at me of course, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 65). Within the first few lines of the passage, right away we see that the wife is accepting of her husband's ways and is used to taking any type of reaction he gives her. It seems as though he is the one who has complete control in the relationship. If something similar were to happen in the 21st century, a lot of people would oppose it, call it "sexism", or simply categorize such actions as "old fashioned". .
Writing in her journal helps the narrator clear her mind or at least allows use her time to do something other than sit in a closed room and stare at the ceiling. However, she is constantly concerned about her husband finding out that she has written a word.