In I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen, the unnamed narrator is the mother of Emily, along with three other children. The narrator tells of her struggles as a single mother in poverty, as well as the emotinal disconnection with Emily when she was sent away. She feels that she wasn’t there enough for Emily when she was a child and didn’t give her the childhood she deserved, and even blames herself for the way Emily turned out. Olsen supports her theme of the unnecessary guilt that the mother feels, despite doing all that may be possible, by using details,
Olsen’s own background and experiences, and symbolism.
Olsen uses details to show the mothers guilt despite her continuous fight for rights and loss of power. In the beginning of the story,
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Combined with the loss of power when her husband left her to mother four children all alone, this leaves the narrator feeling awful and guilty about Emily’s childhood.
Later on, she is convinced to send Emily away so that she can have better care. Losing her child takes a toll on her and lets her think about all the things she could have done to give Emily a better childhood.
Olsen uses her own life experiences to influence the story and send the message of guilt.
Like the narrator, Tillie Olsen was also a single mother of four, living in poverty. She was forced to put her writing career on hold as she raised her children. The loss of power she felt when she
Prevratil 2 was forced to step away from writing is the same as the loss the mother felt in the story. It is also seen by the societal standard at the time, which was for women to be simple housewives who did what their husbands told them to do. The breaking of gender roles by getting a job in both the story and Olsen’s life would typically seen as a rise in power for women, but in this instance it is a huge loss, as they have to leave their children in the care of others, leaving people to start questioning the mothering skills of Olsen and the