ipl-logo

Analysis Of Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing

1149 Words5 Pages

It is said from the beginning of time that nothing could ever be greater than a mother's love for her child, and in the story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen, it proves just that. In the story the narrator, an unnamed mother reflects back to the days when her child, Emily, was still a baby and the struggle of raising her during the Great Depression. The mother then goes on to talk about the unexpected situations in society and her life that made her become a single working-class mother who also had to give her baby to the father's family because she couldn't afford to raise Emily on her own. The story "I Stand Here Ironing" tells a lot about a mother's regrets and sacrifices for her own child and how far she would go in order to do what …show more content…

Many grow up to believe that a mother can do everything and anything but they don't see the process and sacrifices that it takes for a mother to do all of the things that she does. In "I Stand Here Ironing" the mother doesn't believe that she made enough sacrifices for Emily while she was a child and she believes that she was an active role in Emily's unhappiness while she was growing up. However, the mother doesn't realize that she sacrificed herself for Emily, she gave up her happiness, time and the role of a mother for Emily's wellbeing. The mother was nineteen at the time, yet she found a night job so that she could be with Emily in the daytime, "After a while a found a job hashing at night so I could be with her days, and it was better" (383). The mother also got persuaded into putting Emily in a convalescent home because it is said that "she can have the kind of food and care you can't manage to give her." (385) which made the mother doubt herself and therefore sent Emily away once again thinking that it was the best choice for Emily since she couldn't give her the undivided attention she needed due to the newborn baby that just arrived. Eight months has past and now Emily is back home but yet again she was a different person and all of the affection the mom was showing towards Emily just made her push her mother away more, making the mother believe that she has failed once again. But in the end, the mother …show more content…

And slowly, throughout the story, the reader can see how much the mother sacrificed for Emily's happiness even though it didn't turn out the way the mother wanted it to. She wanted Emily to have a fulfilled childhood, with laughter and happiness, however, she realizes that her actions with Emily's upbringing will have a major effect on Emily's future. All and all, a mother can only so much for her child ¬and though every mother wants to be the perfect mother for her child, perfection is not possible in the world of motherhood. In the story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen, the mother sacrificed her own happiness for Emily's happiness, which also filled her with deep remorse and regrets towards Emily's upbringing. However, it also shows how far a mother will go in order to do what is right for her child even if she is left with deep

Show More
Related
1093 Words | 5 Pages

UPS AND DOWNS. The nature of Emily's journey is in a . Emily's pain is caused by the lack of her mother's attention. At the beginning of the mother's reflection over Emily's life she is remembered as chubby cheeked joyful little baby. When Emily was little she had to stay with other people because her mom had to work.

Read More
534 Words | 3 Pages

There is no going back from this moment on. She is no longer just her mother’s child-- she is a mom. Her baby’s mom. It is as if her whole world changed in a blink of an eye, but despite the rapid change, she embraces it. She loves her child to an extent only a mother can imagine possible.

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

When her only son was going to school , she said; “ I never though a son of mine would choose useless books over the parents that have you life”(Macleod 18). It shows how the mother was putting so much pressure and guilt

Read More
58 Words | 1 Pages

The function of imagery serves to give a vibrant presentation to the readers not only visually, but also to the readers’ other sense. In The Seamstress, the women are treated as properties of men. This is shown through the use of imagery. Therefore, the problem of the research is how imagery is used in relation to Marxist

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

The play Our Town is about the people of a small town of Grover's Corners in New Hampshire. This play focuses mainly on two families, the Gibbs and the Webbs. The play portrays teenage years, love and marriage, and death throughout the three acts. Throughout the play, Emily Webb, Mrs. Gibbs, and Joe Crowell suddenly die suddenly when they had their whole lives ahead of them. Wilder conveys that death happens at any time so one should live every day like it will be their last.

Read More
1229 Words | 5 Pages

After her father’s death, Emily insisted that her father “was not dead… for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (Faulkner). This suggests that Emily was unable to accept her father’s death and that she had been experiencing severe symptoms of denial as a result of her trauma. This denial mainly stems from the physical abuse and emotional control her father had placed on Emily, both contributing to her isolation from society and leading to her eventual death. Despite the differences between the stories, both represent the severe effects of trauma and how it can lead to the tragic downfall of one’s

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

While the mothers in neither Dobson’s nor Harwood’s poems are entirely content with the situations, they have found themselves in, they have ultimately chosen to make the necessary sacrifices because a mother’s love for her child is

Read More
1268 Words | 6 Pages

Both Emily and Robert are prematurely judged by the narrators in both stories, and the assumptions are so far fetched from the reality. Miss. Emily is perceived to be a lonely old woman, whom nobody ever spoke with. Since they never talk with her or learn anything about what is going on in her life, the townspeople begin to gossip to make up for this. They knew her father had driven away any man from becoming close to her, and they just thought to themselves, “ poor Emily” (32).

Read More
1089 Words | 5 Pages

This is seen by the actions she takes to get to her goal, statements she makes towards her family members, and how she responds to her family when they are troubled. Mama has lived in her apartment for a long time with her family and is about to get enough money to change that. An example of Mama’s motivation to achieve her goal is shown when Ruth, her daughter-in-law and Mama are talking about what Mama would do with the insurance money. Mama states, “Been thinking that we maybe could meet the notes on a little old two-story somewhere, with a yard where Travis could play in the summertime, if we use part of the insurance for a down payment and everybody kind of pitch in” (563). Mama is suggesting to Ruth of what could be a better future for her son and their family.

Read More
1852 Words | 8 Pages

In many situations, the people within the town notice Miss Emily’s odd behavior, but they choose to maintain peace with her instead of helping her when she clearly needs it the most. However, this need to preserve the respectful image of Miss Emily ultimately leads to her emotional breakdown of isolation and

Read More
1619 Words | 7 Pages

The short stories, “I Stand Here Ironing” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are both stories told by women who felt that their responsibilities as a mother were

Read More
1406 Words | 6 Pages

Best of the Worst Parenting is never perfect. Every parents questions whether they are raising their child correctly, and no parent ever feels like they are doing the right thing. With no clear distinction between good and bad parenting, it is usually left to personal preferences and judgements to decide which parents have adequately raised their children and which have failed. When a parent so call “fails,” often it is the children with their strong will and determination to survive that collectively raise themselves. In Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Leonie, one of the narrators and the mother of another narrator, Jojo, is not the most caring, hands-on mother, but is loving of her children nevertheless.

Read More
960 Words | 4 Pages

He also shows the relationship between Emily and her dead father and how Emily cannot let go of people that show a love interest in her or the people who look after her in that she must be attached to them even after death. Faulkner depicts an Emily that was once young and vibrant, who maintained the Grierson home and kept it in a pristine condition. Faulkner relays to readers that because Emily was unable to control her own destiny and was powerless under her father’s hand, she became a recluse and ultimately went into a downward spiral. After sensing and believing that her first real love will leave her, Emily purchases arsenic and it is believed that she will kill herself because there is no point in living if no one will love her

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

Out of all the people in the world who works hard, keeps every household together also the one who deserves more and beyond would of course be our mothers. As I introduce this particular book you will come to realize that a mother is an important spotlight in this book. Vera B. Williams is a phenomenal author and illustrator in the picture book A Chair for My Mother. Williams achieved a Caldecott Metal award for her great work. The characters in A Chair for My Mother are a daughter, a mother and a grandmother who save up coins for the mother that deserves all and more to get her a nice comfy yet the perfect beautiful chair in replace of her old chair that burned in their previous home.

Read More
580 Words | 3 Pages

The only woman in the world who will still cradle you in her arms even if you've stabbed her loving heart is your mother. The short story “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler is about guilt and reveals mother’s feelings towards her children. A loving mother will feel guilty for anything that happens to her children, and even for that how they feel. Mothers is the person who cares the most about her child. The story “Teenage Wasteland” tells about a common situation many families experience: a misunderstood child creates problems to his parents, not by fault, but because he feels unwanted.

Read More

More about Analysis Of Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing

Related Topics

Open Document