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I Stand Here Ironing Analysis

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We all go through things in life that stick with us forever, some may argue that these past experiences/ memories may hinder a person's identity, but I believe in the opposite. There is good in everything, it's all about finding it, instead of being too lazy to search for it. Furthermore, I believe when we choose to look upon our past experiences/memories they shape who we become as individuals; we start viewing life in a more positive way and become stronger than we ever were, our identity will remain the same no matter how bad the situation was.

When we look back at our past experiences, we can connect it with our present and see how it has shaped us into the individuals we have become. In the article “How Your Past Affects Your Present” …show more content…

In the beginning we see Emily struggle with accepting her appearance and lacking in confidence. “She tormented herself enough about not looking like the others, there was enough of the unsureness, the having to be conscious of words before you speak, the constant caring - what are they thinking of me? without having it all magnified by the merciless physical drives.”(Olsen 5). This . On top of that, Emily also had abandonment issues, as a result of her mother constantly sending her away. “I used to try to hold and lover her after she came back, but her body would stiff and after a while she’d push away.” (Olsen 4) Emily’s abandonment issues caused her to think no one would love her, making her act cold towards others. At the end of the story Emily tries out for a comedy show and ends up winning. She continues to do more shows, thus leaving even her mother in shock, because she changed into a new, unrecognizable Emily. “Then: Was this Emily? The control, the command, the convulsing and deadly clowning, the spell then the roaring stamping audience unwilling to let this rare and precious laughter out of their lives” (Olsen 6). Emily didn't allow her lack of confidence and appearance worry her as she was up on stage. She didn't let her abandonment issues convince her that the audience wouldn't like her. All of her past experiences/ memories didn't hinder her identity, Emily was still able to become a better version of

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Her mother is persuaded to send her to a covalent home and Emily had a difficult time there because they didn’t allow any of the girls to keep personal belongings or "love anyone" (Olsen). After Emily came back from the covalent home, she became distant and refused her mother's attempts of comfort. A bright spot in Emily's life is her gift in comedy. The biggest obstacle for Emily would be not believing that she is helpless to the hardships life has thrown at

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Emily’s Mental Deterioration After getting over the initial shock of finding out that the mysterious woman that everyone was talking about was going to sleep each night with a decaying body next to her, it makes sense for the reader to question her mental state. If the reader took a closer look at the town’s description of her, they will realize that as time went on, Emily’s will power began to deteriorate. When she was young, she was the topic of everybody’s conversation, however, she did not let that bother her and walked down the streets with her head held high. Emily took over the old house after her father’s death and kept a few servants around to keep the house tidy, nonetheless, the outside of the house was not kept in the best of conditions.

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Emily lives in Huckabee, a town where you can “put a name to every face” (Lippincott 34). Huckabee, like many small towns, is where “...everyone knows everyone and judges them…” (Literary Theory Introduction) and everyone is in everyone else’s business. This leads to a fear of judgment that Emily gains due to her wrecking her relationship with Matt. This judgment is one of the reasons that she thinks she has to be with Matt.

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Unfortunately, they are both trapped physically in the environment that they lived, and emotionally with the constant unintentional neglect from Sonny’s brother and Emily’s mother. Emily found her escape through being on stage preforming comedy for others, her mother states “Now suddenly she was Somebody, and as imprisoned in her difference as in anonymity” (Olsen 6). Emily was now her own being, not the person she was forced to be for her entire life. Being on stage changed who Emily was, since she was constantly being shut out from her mother.

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Emily was isolated by her father, isolated her from men and let Homer Barron isolated her permanently. Emily was sick for a long time, her hair was cut short and looks like a girl, she had grown fat also and her hair was turning grey. Emily's love story is not a traditional romance because their relationship is shrouded in mystery. And they met but are not destined to be together. The relationship ends abruptly, instead of spending more time with Emily, but what Emily perceives as romantic interest is merely platonic from his

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Emily Grierson has a multitude of core issues that she represses with defense mechanisms. The main core issue present in Emily is the fear of abandonment. Emily’s father past away, leaving Emily all on her own in the house. When Emily’s father was still alive, he fixated on Emily and how no guy was good enough for her. After hearing so often that she was the best, she began to believe it, deeming every man less than her.

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Emily and Sonny ultimately find their self-identity despite their hardships with the help of understanding from their families. Ever since she was a baby, Emily was already going through hardships. From spending days with the neighbor to being sent to a nursing home. Even though Emily “stayed skeleton thin, not wanting to eat, and night after night she had nightmares,” she still found a way to “[get] laughter out of the audience so dear they applaud and applaud and do not want to let her go” (Olsen 3). This foreshadowed Emily’s success as a comedic speaker at different events.

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The author is able to portray Emily’s both internal and external damage that is done to her throughout the story. Emily first starts off with quite an normal mentality for her age and era, but as she gets older you are able to see how her mentality just crumbles. Emily starts off as a hopeful and vibrant girl, but once her father dies she seems to become sullen and her unnatural behavior begins to inhibit within her. Her father being the only male figure in her life that she loved; since her father would cast away any man that came her way, caused an effect in her she no longer knew the difference between love and kindness. Emily’s moral even fades, as she confuses Homer’s kindness for love and doesn’t want him to leave just like the

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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

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She’s so sad that he passed away that she doesn’t do anything. William Faulkner likely made the decision to reveal the events in Emily’s life in this way to make the reader have a specific perspective at the beginning of the story and have it be totally different at the

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Because her family was prominent in the town of Jefferson, Emily Grierson was watched her entire life and wondered about by everyone. The townspeople had a lot to do with Emily’s changing mental condition because they constantly gossiped about everything that happened in her life. It generally

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Since then it was on an irreversible road of decay. Moreover, Emily herself was decaying. She was aging physically and emotionally. Her teachings were obsolete due to change within the south. Physically, her hair was turning grey and growing old.

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She was alone, she was humiliated by the town, she had to hide away because she was not able to cope. In Tim O’Brien’s article he states, “After her death, Emily is reunited with the other members of her southern class …”, which means, in death, with the people she loved she will no longer be alone” (O’Brien

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When her father died she lost everyone that mattered to her. She eventually started dating people and getting back out into the world again. She had met Homer whom she had hoped to marry one day. The towns people were worried because he was a northerner and a Yankee therefore they tried to get her to stop seeing him, but they soon learned Homer was more interested in living the life of a single guy. When Emily learned of this she went to the drug store to buy arsenic, she wanted to ensure Homer did not leave her. She seemed to have a problem with people leaving her; she never was happy.

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