The consistent use of the word “creep” in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” reveals the theme of the importance of freedom in development of one’s identity. The repetition of “creep” displays how the narrator feels she must constantly be secretive. Her husband, John, imposes many rules that limit her both physically and mentally. These constant limitations lead the narrator to feel emotionally strained and “cry at nothing” (304). Without the ability to express herself, the narrator feels as if she must be “sly” or “meet with heavy opposition” (300). As the narrator remains sheltered and inactive, her mental health declines and she loses all sense of identity. Without the ability to express herself freely and improve her health, the narrator loses all control and spirals into insanity. Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the word “creep” identifies the narrator’s continuous loss of identity. 

As the narrator begins to lose her identity, she sees a woman who “[creeps] by daylight” (309). She sees her “in the long shaded lane” and “all around the garden” (309). The narrator becomes obsessed with this woman. She finds it peculiar that the woman creeps by day instead of night. The narrator must creep by day or “John would suspect something at once” (309). John controls everything the narrator can and cannot do. He places strict physical and mental rules. For example, the narrator must hide her writings from John. The narrator explains that John “hates to have [her] write a word” (309). John believes that writing is not beneficial to the narrator when it is actually an essential form of self expression for her. Because of this loss, the narrator loses her identity and her mind fixates on the woman creeping outside. The woman she sees creeping outside may even portray the narrator’s inner desires for freedom. The narrator desires to spend time outside in the “large and shady” garden (300). John restricts her to the dreary room. This causes the narrator to imagine herself as the woman creeping outside in the daylight. Because the narrator loses her personal identity, she creates a woman who possesses the freedom she desires. 

At one point, the narrator explains how she “[does not] like to look out the windows” as “there are so many of those creeping women” (311). The narrator’s mental state is negatively impacted when she is confined to the room. Her mind begins to interpret details of the room and create images. She begins to see creeping women outside of the house. She then wonders if the women “come out of that wallpaper as [she] did” (311). The narrator’s vision of reality is distorted as she believes herself to have come from the yellow wallpaper. Creeping becomes the only means in which the narrator can occupy herself. The narrator’s identity relies solely on the act of creeping. This fact displays how the inability of the narrator to express herself leads to her mental and physical decline. 

As the story progresses, the narrator has a perplexing change of feeling in regard to the room she once claimed as “hideous” and “torturing” (306). She exclaims that “it is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around!” (311). She even goes so far as to say she “[does not] want to go outside” and that she “[would not], even if Jennie asks [her] to” (311). Creeping becomes the only activity the narrator can partake in. Because of this fact, the narrator soon becomes obsessed with creeping. Now creeping is the only activity she desires to do. She states that she would rather be in the room than outside where “everything is green instead of yellow” (311). Previously the narrator despises the color yellow, but then claims she prefers it. This change in opinion displays how isolation leads to the oppression of self expression. The narrator’s identity becomes reliant on creeping and this leads to her mental and physical deterioration. 

At the end of the story, John faints “right across [her] path by the wall” and the narrator simply continues to creep (312). The narrator’s obsession with creeping has become all consuming. The narrator has completely lost her mental sanity. The inability to express herself has become detrimental. Creeping is the only action the narrator can think about. It has become the only way she can define herself. One may go as far as to say that it has become the narrator’s identity. The restrictions John set shattered any feelings of identity the narrator once possessed. Creeping is the only way the narrator is able to define herself. The narrator exclaims, “‘I [have] got out at last in spite of you and Jane’” (312). She has found freedom in the act of creeping. It distracts her mind from her dull life. It gives the narrator a sense of purpose and provides an outlet to express herself. 

Gilman’s repetition of the word “creep” in “The Yellow Wallpaper” emphasizes the importance of freedom and self expression. Throughout the story, the narrator loses her identity because of the strict rules John imposes. He restricts her not only physically but mentally as well. She is unable to do anything she enjoys, such as spend time outside in the garden or write. Because she is unable to express herself in any other way, she turns to creeping as her primary source of entertainment. Her enjoyment for creeping quickly turns into an obsession. This obsession then becomes all consuming. Eventually, creeping becomes the narrator’s identity. The constant use of the word “creep” displays the significance of enjoying freedom when developing one’s unique identity. 