"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen
"I Stand Here Ironing" is a short story by Tillie Olsen, which was first published in the collection Tell Me a Riddle in 1956. The story focuses on a mother and daughter relationship and the narrator's struggle to become herself. It is a powerful tale of motherhood and family that is both funny and touching.
Narrator's Reflections on Ironing
The narrator's reflections are framed by a mundane task: ironing clothes. While ironing clothes, she muses about the state of her daughter. She sees her daughter as a victim of a system that limits women to domestic duties and little else.
As she irons, the narrator recalls various moments in her life, including her first marriage and her daughter's birth. She reflects on her past in an effort to improve the way Emily lives. She has also endured a spiritual defeat. But the narrator is determined to make things right for her daughter and compares the motion of the iron to her own mental process.
The narrator's reflections are rooted in her deep guilt over raising her daughter. The narrator tries to "total" her daughter's life to justify her actions, but this is impossible. She feels terrible guilt and shame because her daughter never had a tantrum, a sign of emotional bonding between mother and daughter.
The narrator's reflections are often poignant and powerful, and the ending of the story suggests that the ironing is responsible for her resolution. As a writer, Olsen's work is important, though it's small and fragmented. It's hard to predict how the narrator will end the story.
Narrator's Relationship with Her Daughter
The narrator of "I Stand Here Ironing" is the mother of a young girl named Emily. Emily is a shy girl and does not get much attention from her mother. The narrator feels that she did not invest enough time and energy in her daughter's life. Her daughter grew up in poverty, without a father figure. Her mother regrets her neglect of Emily.
The ironing symbolizes the constant work that has created a barrier between the mother and daughter. The narrator's constant ironing, cooking, and tending to her daughter's baby are all activities that take up a large part of her day. Although she loves Emily, she can't show her love and affection to her daughter because she has to work and care for her family. The narrator's relationship with Emily is not a healthy one.
"I Stand Here Ironing" is a powerful novel about a mother's relationship with her daughter. Its powerfully realistic portrayal of the mother-daughter relationship has impressed critics and fellow writers. The novel is told in the mother's voice, which allows the narrator to capture the dynamic relationship between a mother and a daughter.
I Stand Here Ironing explores a mother's relationship with her eldest daughter and the difficulties she faces in achieving a separate identity from her daughter. It also explores the difficulties of finding individual identities in a society of poverty. It raises questions about the importance of intimacy in a relationship.
Narrator's Struggle to Find Selfhood
"I Stand Here Ironing" is a novel about the narrator's struggle to embrace her identity amidst societal pressure. The book is told through the narrator's inner monologue and the thoughts of her mother and sister. The novel has a strong feminist undercurrent, and its themes of gender, class, and sexuality are universal.
The novel is a powerful exploration of motherhood, as portrayed in the lives of mothers. Olsen's first husband abandoned her during the Depression, and she had several children with her second husband. Despite her slender background, her writing has been impacted by her own experiences. The heavy demands of motherhood and working life have hampered her literary career.
The novel's non-linear structure enables Olsen to create an engrossing account. She describes the struggles that a single mother faces, from economic problems to the difficulties of raising a child. By incorporating historical context into her story, Olsen effectively portrays the struggles of a single mother.
While the narrator acknowledges her own inability to improve the lives of her daughter, she also acknowledges the role of the oppressive conditions that impoverished her family. While she acknowledges her own failures, she does not discount the contributions of the people around her, and her struggle to find selfhood becomes a meditative exercise on guilt and regret.
