The theme that I intend to analyze is the theme of identity crisis, which is basically quite significant. This theme really interests me because as we move through life, we are constantly defining our identity and learning more about ourselves. As I go through college, I find that I learn more and more about myself. The texts I will analyze are “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “Why I Live in PO” and “To a Girl Who Leaves Home”. In two of the three stories, depression essentially plays a key role for the characters. All three texts share the theme of identity and this can be seen through the characters' struggle, names and family. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" in 1892. The story is mainly about how "I got along well with Mom, Dad-Dad, and Uncle Rondo until my sister Stella-Rondo separated from her husband and go home. again” (Welty 659). Her sister took away her identity by turning her family against her. Which led her to realize that something had to change, that she needed to change. This forced her to create a new identity and move away from her family. Linda Pastan wrote “To a Girl Leaving Home.” The poem is about a girl who is growing up and is about to leave home. The mother remembers the time when she taught her daughter how to ride a bike when she was eight years old. The mother clings to the memory and realizes how quickly her daughter's life has passed. The mother is sad that her daughter is growing up and leaving home. In this poem, the characters of mother and daughter are both faced with questions of identity. The daughter grows up and no longer needs her mother, while the mother is sad that her daughter doesn't need her as much. “I continued to wait for/the thud/of your fall while I/sprinted to catch up” (Pastan lines 11-13). This quote shows that the mother was waiting to help her daughter, but her daughter was fine on her own. Since the daughter is leaving home, it means that mother and daughter will start a new identity. Because they had no name, they could be used to represent any mother-daughter.