21. What is a clause?

A clause is a part of the sentence that contains a verb. A typical clause consists of a subject and a predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase, a verb with any objects and other modifiers.A simple sentence usually consists of a single finite clause with a finite verb that is independent.

explanation: the peple who eat people are people who need people because all the people that eat people need people to eat, so they satisfy their needs by eating people

as for symbolic actions, the narrator's tearing down the wallpaper in an attempt to find the "woman" in the wallpaper represents her struggle to retain or regain her sanity.   the wallpaper has been part of her confinement and by her tearing it down, she is freeing herself from that confinement.