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I Stand Here Ironing Essay

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Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing is a compelling story that tackles a complex relationship between a mother and daughter. Through Olsen’s vivid imagery and elaborate symbolism, we explore the themes of motherhood, the pressures of a patriarchal society, and economic stability that have shaped the mother’s experience as a parent and the oppression of women in society. The narrator’s reflections on motherhood contribute to self-growth and empowerment through resistance to societal norms and self-awareness.
Despite tackling these societal pressures, the narrator self-reflects on her experience and life as a mother. Her internal monologue gives an insight into her struggles as a single mother during the depression. Olsen uses imagery within …show more content…

I put down the iron. What in me demanded that goodness in her? And what was the cost, the cost of her such goodness?” This astonishment she feels reflects upon the hardship of motherhood and how her parenting was not good enough. The self-doubt about her parenting illustrates the pressures of expectations set by a patriarchal society. Olsen also displays the intense emotional sacrifice mothers must endure due to the effects of social inequality. The narrator reflects on Emily’s unwillingness to conform to social expectations of femininity, “she was a child who did not smile easy or often.” Her frustration indicates the pressure that mothers face to conform their daughters to the societal norms of femininity, which is often the requirement of mothers in a patriarchal society.
The mother was a working single mother who had struggled to provide for her family throughout her motherhood. She reflects upon this throughout the story, indicating how poverty had limited her opportunities leading to guilt and self-doubt. Olsen utilizes the symbolism of the iron and her motherhood, “I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron.” As she moves back and forth with the iron, she is moving back and

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