Ironing

Typically in stories we see mothers painted in one of two lights, the first being the all American, doting, and loving mother, the second at times unfavorable or cold. Rarely does the reader get the see the character for both their good and bad in blatant truth. In Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing the narrator makes herself transparent to the reader and allows us to see her for exactly who she has been throughout her journey of motherhood, flaws and all. In this story, we meet a mother of five who remains nameless throughout. This woman tells us of her struggles as a working single parent. When we meet our main character she is busy with housework, as she often is, when she receives word from someone who is concerned for the emotional well-being of her oldest daughter, Emily. This person, whom one would assume is a school counselor, is concerned and looking to Emily’s mother for answers. Emily seems withdrawn and often times reserved, thus causing the narrator to question whether or not her actions played a role in the development of this behavior. In light of this, Emily’s mother brings the readers with her throughout her stream of consciousness reflecting on her inner feelings of guilt with the way she has raised Emily. Through this narrative we learn how this mother with the best of intentions often times found herself too…

In the poem, Ironing Their Clothes by Julia Alvarez, the speaker is portrayed as a young child who expresses unreciprocated love towards the family through ironing their clothes. Despite her effort, the family members do not respond with the same amount of love from them and often her affections are ignored. Alvarez initially develops the speaker’s action of showing love towards her family members through asserting cheerful metonymy and imagery associated with the speaker’s meticulous ironing of…

Mothers contribute a lot to their kids’ lives especially when it comes to their daughters. It does not matter if a mother does too much or too little there is always a big impact on their kids’ life. This is shown in two stories written by two ladies, Tillie Olsen, who wrote “I Stand Here Ironing” and Amy Tan who wrote “Two Kinds.” These two authors showed the relationships between the mothers and their daughters. Even Jing-Mei in “Two Kinds” struggled with her mother not let her be who she…

weapon in the war against reality” -Lewis Caroll. However, the speaker of the poem “Ironing Their Clothes” by Julia Alvarez believed that imagination will create a reality. The speaker lacks affection from her family members since their lives are too busy for love. She uses her duty to connect with her father, mother, and sister by replacing them with their clothing. She believes that she can not only express her love for them through this, but also mend all of their troubles. The author Julia…

I Stand Here Displacing Published in the Partisan Review during the Great Depression, Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” is a short story about the author, who narrates a part of her life involving those who have emotionally impacted her. The person to impact her the most is her first husband, as she is left damaged when he leaves her. Through the denial and displacement of her negative feelings, we see the narrator’s relationship to her troubled husband and others. After a psychoanalytical…

Although Picasso was not as poor as them, his depression following the tragedy of death made him misunderstand his actual situation. He started to feel and act as if he were in his models’ situations. This habit of empathy lead Picasso to behave differently not only in his everyday life, but also translated into his art. He began to slowly purchase less and less art supplies until he almost quit buying canvases altogether and would instead paint on cardboard. During the time that Picasso painted…

“I Stand Here Ironing”: A Daughter’s Identity Crisis A single woman trying to raise a child alone during a great depression is almost impossible. It is hard for a woman to raise a child on her own. It is even harder when a mother does not have other family members, a steady job, or income to help take care of a child. Tillie Olsen, an American writer who wrote “I Stand here Ironing” while standing at an ironing board herself, demonstrates how being left by a man to raise a child during a time…

"I Stand Here Ironing" and "Everyday Use" are similar stories with one difference. Similarly, both stories share a main theme of resentment, and mothers who blame themselves for their daughters' feelings. Yet differ in their central symbols: an iron and a pair of family quilts. "I Stand Here Ironing," introduces us to Emily, who resents her sister for needing more attention, and her mother, who blames herself for not giving Emily what she needed. Which she believes contributed to Emily's…

In Tillie Olsen’s short story, “I Stand Here Ironing,” we learn of the troubles of a teenage girl through the narration of her mother. Emily, now 19, grew up in a less than perfect home, lacking the basic stability and attention that young children need to thrive. The fact that her childhood was lacking definitely affected young Emily in more ways than anyone really knows. After taking time to re-read the story through psychoanalytic lenses, it’s more obvious that the real problems stem from…

When recalling ether fond or sad memories your thoughts create a stream that is natural, maybe in order of event or in order of enjoyment. In “I Stand Here Ironing” the Narrator’s flow-of-consciousness replicates the unrestricted elegant thoughts of the mother, while she reflects on her daughter’s full life. The mother struggles to make sense and logic of her daughter’s situation as pieces together fragmented memories. She fights to try to see the reason for her daughter’s, Emily, behavior but…