The narrator talks about the wallpaper sticking closer than a brother
I think the proverb is:
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." The friend, or woman in Gilman's story caged in the wallpaper was herself, and she needed to free herself in her mind because she was her only true friend and savior."
The "friend"or woman the narrator sees caged in the wallpaper is herself. She needs to free herself from the wallpaper: she needs to free herself from her mind.
