For the most part, the narrator is angry with her husband
because he treats her like a child. The husband's belief that his wife needs "rest" because of
"nerves" angers the wife in a couple of ways. The first is that such an attitude denies that
there is something fundamentally wrong with the wife. She believes that there is something that
is not right with her mind and such a condition requires a form of gravity and seriousness that
goes beyond the idea that "rest" is all that's needed. The husband's attitude feeds the larger
issue of a paternalism that refuses to acknowledge his wife's voice. When she wants to go outside
or write in a journal, the husband rejects these, stressing that the wife is not to any of these.
The denial of voice, deliberate or unintentional, that the husband demonstrates to the wife is
reason enough for her anger towards him.
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