I Stand Here Ironing Essay

Tillie Olsen’s story begins with a sentence “I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron”. It is unusual that the story starts with a description of the mother ironing. By opening with “I stand here ironing” the author describes motion of the iron moving “back and forth” mimicking the mother’s thought as she moves back and forth over her life as a mother, attempting to figure out her daughter’s current situation. We see she is guilty of neglect towards

line between being an acceptable and unacceptable parent is often blurry and is seen on different perspectives when it comes to class, culture, and generation differences. Based on the two stories of Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds” and Tillie Olsen’s, “I Stand here Ironing” we see these two perspectives that derive from different maternal upbringings of the children in the stories. What is found between them is the conflict of being too little or heavily involved in a child’s life has had more negative outcomes

In “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, the simple action of ironing symbolizes covering up flaws and building a protective layer for imperfection, and through the first person interior monologue, readers get to travel on the journey with the narrator as she grows and realizes the uselessness in hiding the truth. Young Emily was a slow developer, who had asthma, an eating disorder, and spent time in a convalescent home. Her never being “glib or quick in a world where glibness and quickness” (25)

"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen is a short story that talks about a handicapped child. Emily had to struggle a whole lot on her short life, but at the end she proved to be a very strong child. Tillie Olsen's characterization of Emily shows a strong female protagonist who overcomes numerous odds: loneliness, humbleness, vulnerability, and her disability. The story is based on a child named Emily that has a physical disability. Emily lived in a family of five children. "She always had

In the story “I Stand Here Ironing” the mother is the unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is someone who wants to make themselves look good while blaming another person in the story. At the beginning of the story I thought that the mother was a reliable narrator because she goes on to tell whoever she is talking to on the phone nothing but positive things. She talks about how beautiful Emily was, the prettiest of all five kids and that she was full of life. The things that the mother described

best to survive she loses the feeling of love she experienced in the beginning. Overwhelmed with all of the burdens it appears that the narrator does not care about her daughter or helping her. “Who needs help…Even if I came, what good would it do? You think because I am her mother I have, a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key? She has lived for nineteen years. There is all that life has happened outside of me, beyond me”(62). At this point, the narrator refers back to her life when

In “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, a relationship between mother and daughter reveals an untraditional relationship. This submissive relationship is built through deprivation and lack of affection. Throughout the short story, the mother reminisces her daughter’s childhood and cannot help but express guilt and regret. The mother may be blown away from her daughter’s beauty at a young age, but emotionally the mother was unable to support her daughter, causing struggles early on. The mothers

the three different stories “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker I can see how each of these mothers show a different model of parenting. Each story is also created on different time periods, and different cultures in which I believe may have an effect on their parenting. Something they may have in common is that they are all trying to do what they believe is best for their daughters. “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen was published

The story by Tillie Olsen, “I stand here ironing” is the best to me because certain aspects of this story are relatable considering I am a single mother. Emily’s mother faces many hardships through the course of Emily’s young life that have molded her into the person she is. Though, Emily’s mother seemed to do the best she could with the cards she was dealt, she seems to feel guilty about how Emily turned out. The plot, setting and points of view in this story helped to make the readers feel as

I stand here ironing by Tillie Olsen is a great short story because even though it is a fiction based story, the plot, and setting has truth behind what the great depression was truly like. The plot for this short story was based around a mother and daughter that had a tough time during the great depression. They both sacrificed a lot to help their family; especially Emily (the oldest daughter of five children). This story touches my heart; the harder someone fights, in the end they most always persevere