...A Victim of Depression In the 1930’s, America was hit with the worst economic depression of the twentieth century. It lasted over a decade and resulted in twenty five percent of the population without jobs. What was once the land of opportunity was now the land of desperation. In “I Stand Here Ironing” a mother looks back on her struggle of raising her daughter Emily, during the great depression. The author, Tillie Olsen, uses the setting of the book to explain the decisions the mother made and the lasting effect it had on her daughter. [ Informative] The story begins with Emily’s mother ironing some clothes for the following day. The reader is witnessing an internal discussion she is having with herself, over her oldest daughter Emily. A teacher from school has called her voicing her concerns about helping Emily who seems to be troubled. Unlike most mothers, this news does come with concern but more of frustrating. Emily’s mother clearly expresses her schedule and does not believe that she could provide much help anyways. “ “Who needs help.”… Even if I came, what good would it do? You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key? She has lived for nineteen years. There is all that life that has happened outside of me, beyond me.” (Tillie Olsen, 283) To her mother Emily has already passed the point of change and will always be who she is. She realizes that she is a big part of how she grew up but thinks that her decisions were...
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...In Tillie Olson’s, I Stand Here Ironing, a mother is contemplating what type of life she had given to her nineteen year-old daughter, Emily. From the time Emily was born, and especially after her father had left them, Emily’s mother did what she could to provide for her daughter. She even had to go to the extent of sending her away to Emily’s father’s home so she could remain home and make money. The story was heralded by the emerging women's movement of the early 1960s as an example of the difficulty of some women's lives and as a portrayal of the self-doubt many mothers suffer when they know their children are not receiving all the attention they deserve. Also, the Great Depression hit many families hard; a lot of them were splitting up in the hopes to make things more affordable. Although our nation is not going another depression, families are still being split up to ease the financial burden. Sometimes, families go their separate ways to escape their financial problems. The iron was a significant piece of the story. The irons of that time were said to be heavy and not like the ones we use today. The iron represents the effort that the mother put into providing a quality lifestyle for her daughter. The process of ironing reflects the actual lifestyle that Emily and her mother had lived. When “pressing” clothes, one must first sure the iron is hot enough. Since the irons back then probably were not electric, they had to be heated on something that was already hot, like a...
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...The mother is the narrator in the story and she is telling us about the events that have taken place in Emily’s life as she is ironing her daughter’s dress. The monologue started because someone (possibly a teacher at Emily’s school) called and wants to discuss her daughter and this has caused the mother to recall Emily’s life and why she has become the person she is. The mother is imaging what the conversation would look like if she were to go talk to this person about Emily. The conflict in the story is the mother questioning herself on how Emily was raised and the difficult decisions she had to make concerning care. She had to decide to work or stay home with Emily, and then when she did work she had to find someone to take care of her daughter which proved just as difficult and these child care providers had a definite impact on Emily’s personality and who she has become today. These decisions that the mother had to make were not the normal decisions for a new mother in these times. The story takes place during the time of the great depression era and that is generally a time that mothers stayed home and took care of their children, but due to the unforeseen circumstance that Emily’s father left because he “could no longer endure sharing want with us” the mother was on her own having to juggle work and child care for her new baby daughter. Who’s fault is it that Emily’s life was so difficult was the mother making the wrong choices as a new mom all alone after only eight...
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...Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” Stephanie A. Carter Introduction to Literature – Short Stories In Tillie Olsen’s short story “I Stand Here Ironing” the economic conditions that the mother faced, deprived her child of the needed attention and love that children deserve. The mother who is the narrator is the protagonist. The story begins as the mother is ironing and talking on the phone with an unknown school official, most likely a school counselor or teacher, about her daughter’s performance or lack thereof. The official wishes to speak with Emily’s mother who obviously feels there is no need for a face-to-face meeting. The mother seems caught in an internal conflict with herself as she tells the story of Emily from birth until now. The narrator was a young mother, only 19 when she had Emily; she was abandoned by the father who was too overwhelmed to care for a family. Emily was left in the care of a neighbor while the mother worked, a neighbor according to the mother “to whom she was no miracle at all” (Charters, 2011, p. 689). Emily eventually was sent to live with her father’s family where she contracted chicken pox that left her scarred. When her mother went to retrieve her she was a different child, not the beautiful child her mother remembered, when she saw her she said that “all the baby loveliness gone” (p. 690), she compared her walk and her thin frame to her father. As Emily moved from many different schools, she made excuses not to go, there were never protests...
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...Literary Analysis of I Stand Here Ironing By: Tillie Olsen Tiffin University Jeremy Vernon September 28, 2013 Cohort 19 ENG 365 Issues In Literature The story I Stand Here Ironing is the story of a mother looking into her past looking back at how she raised her daughter Emily. The title of the story is in its self a metaphor, I Stand Here Ironing. When one is ironing an item of clothing they are looking at something that has problem in it and working to fix those problems using the iron. Throughout the story Emily’s mother looks back at her life and how she raised Emily with regret and sorrow, she thinks how things could have been different or what she could have done to make them better. In the beginning she talks about how she nursed Emily, and all of her children, but with Emily she followed all the books and would not feed her until the clocks said that it was time to feed her. This was one of the earliest regrets that she expressed. This is also the introduction of food into the story which is to be talked about more later, food is going to represent another issue other than hunger. Later in Emily’s life her mother had gotten a job working at night, during this time she was forced to leave Emily with a person to care for her at night. This was another point of regret for Emily’s mother as she felt that no one could care for her the way that she did since she was her “miracle.” (Olsen, 2011) At the age of nineteen Emily’s mother felt that it would be best for her...
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...stories. In “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, the story includes many autobiographical elements, including the narrator’s recollection of being a teenage mother with limited opportunities who is abandoned by the baby’s father. The story explores the effect that the child had on female identity during the Great Depression and World War II. The narrator tries to accept responsibility for her failings as a mother, but she also is very aware of the situation. The story here is relevant to today’s views on female identity and feminism. Tillie Olsen’s story focuses on the mother’s desire to live an acceptable life. The mother works long hours in order to get by, but it affects the relationship with her daughter. At the time, being a single mother that worked was considered a social norm. Olsen's story gives readers a sense of the challenges there are to be a working mother at that time. Even though the mother and daughter relationship in Olsen's story doesn't fit the stereotype, it reveals strong bond between them, one that cannot be broken....
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...an ideal environment for beginners in singing. Usher joined the Rhythm and Blues (R&B) group called NuBeginnings at age 11, and recorded some ten songs with that group in 1991, but the songs that were part of the album Nubeginning Featuring Usher Raymond IV were available only at the regional level and that too by mail order. Usher competed in Star Search, a reality show to identify talented singer at the age of 13. In that show Usher was spotted by an Artists and Repertoire (A&R) representative from the recording label LaFace Records, which after an audition by Usher with its co-founder Reid, “signed the gospel choir boy to a recording contract” (Lane, 2012). Some of Usher's most popular albums are “My Way”, “Confessions”, “Here I Stand”, “Raymond v. Raymond”,...
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...Champion, Laurie. “Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Tillie Olsen’s ‘I Stand Here Ironing.’” Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. Dr. Laurie Champion, a Professor of English at San Diego State University, analyzes the gender, class, and race in twentieth- century American literature. In “I Stand Here Ironing,” she analyzes how being poor and having to work can affect both a mother and a child. Champion discusses how working causes the mother to have to abandon her child. This essay reflects how different circumstances affect Emily’s self-esteem. Frye, Joanne S. “’I Stand Here Ironing’: Motherhood As Experience And Metaphor.” Studies In Short Fiction...
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...Literary Critique of “I Stand Here Ironing” Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” focuses on a mother who receives a phone call while ironing, about her eldest child Emily. The call comes from a school guidance counselor asking her to make time to see her so they could discuss helping Emily. While listening, the mother partakes in a mental or interior monologue of her first born child’s life, and how being a single teen mother facing poverty shaped her daughter into who she is to today; a stiff, awkward ,and isolated young woman. Although there are various angles in which to analyze this text, the prominent angle is how society, especially in the 1930’s, view of women and motherhood have affected the narrator in her way of raising Emily. A sociological critique of I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen examines a wide range of social and feminist issues throughout the short story. Theses social ills have left the narrator with a strained psyche and have her questioning her parenting. I “Stand Here Ironing” is a short story in which the reader gets a mental image of the way it was for the narrator to raise her child alone. The narrator was a single mother at the age of nineteen, living during the latter years of the Depression. As a single mother during the depths of the Great Depression it was an especially hard time. The narrator describes the world in which her first child, Emily was born into. “It was the pre-WPA world of the depression” (290). Emily’s mother struggled to...
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...Todd Carroll English 102 3/2/16 I Stand Here With Freud Psychoanalytic criticism focuses on a work of literature as an expression in fictional form of the inner workings of the human mind. This means that authors write about what goes on in their subconscious life. They write about what makes them as a person without the author actually knowing it. Tillie Olsen, the author of “I Stand Here Ironing,” was born into a middle class working family. She was born before the Great Depression, which means she grew up during it. “ I Stand Here Ironing” took place during the Great Depression and the main character is Emily. Emily is the first born in the family and she was the only baby that was beautiful at birth. She is a loner who has always been self-conscious of her dark hair and complexion; this makes her insecure. Through out the story the reader learns what the mom had to go through in order to raise her children. At the beginning of “I Stand Here Ironing” an unknown character tells the narrator that her daughter Emily needs help. The mother then goes to explain that there is nothing she can do for her at this point. Emily grew up a beautiful baby but she was troubled by illnesses. Her father had to leave their family to go find work. This was a normal thing to do during the depression but it left her mother alone with her. In the story you learn that the mother would work any job just to provide for Emily. As Emily grew up her appearance changed and her skin got...
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...who is Maggie the younger sibling. Maggie is the protagonist because we sympathize with her for all that she has gone through. In the A&P Sammy who is the narrator is also the protagonist because he is the primary character in the story. The antagonist is the boss because his actions conflict with the protagonists desires and goals. The characters in I Stand Here Ironing Emily is the protagonist because she is the sick one, she is also the main character and we sympathize with her. The antagonist is the mother, because she concerns conflict with the mother. 2.) In the A&P the setting was in a grocery store on a hot summer day. In this reading it played a major role because it is where Sammy, the main character, worked and it is a public place where proper attire is needed, so the setting helps cause part of the conflict. In Every Day Use the setting was at the house in the middle of nowhere. It was a beat up house, the only thing that the mother could afford. The role it played was being the reason Dee moved out of the house. Other than that the setting had no major role in the narrative. The setting of I Stand Here Ironing was all over the place and it did not serve as a major role in the narrative. 3.) The plot of the A&P was a hot summer day, a teen boy was working in a grocery store. He saw a group of girls in a bathing suit that made his day. They came to the register where they were scolded by the boys boss for what they were wearing. The boy, Sammy, wanted to be their...
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...A&P John Updike As I began to read A&P by John Updike, I began to relate to Sammy. I relate to his views on the girls and I relate to how he is not assimilated into the group at A&P. When seeing girls in bikinis that are attractive, it is natural for a teen to stop and look. Sammy reacted the same way I would have, by checking them out. The girls relate to Sammy because they defy the normal standards of the store. This is just like Sammy. Sammy is a sarcastic guy who is not trying to climb the corporate ladder at A&P. He is unlike his co worker, Stokesie, who is trying to be promoted. I felt like Sammy represents an everyday teen. He works for extra cash and he checks out girls. Having finished the reading, I realized that the girls were a symbol for him. This symbol was to defy the standards of society and do what you want. As I reread and studied A&P, I noticed the connection between Sammy and the girls. Sammy intently looks at each of the three girls. He uses descriptive words...
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...Sammy believed that Stokesie was conforming himself to the overrated demands of the corporate ladder by aspiring to be the manager of the store. While Sammy addressed conformity throughout the entire story, he did not fully understand it until he understood the girls. The girls served as a symbol of freedom for Sammy. Their insistence to ignore societal norms helped Sammy realize that being different, even rebellious, was ok. Sammy learned to stand up against conformity and to stand firm in what he believed was right; that is the most significant moment for A and P. While Sammy learned the importance of freedom, he also learned that freedom comes with consequences. This was shown through the last few sentences of the story, which stated, “His face was dark and gray and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter” (323). In this change of tone, Sammy felt regret for his actions and this...
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...Absence of Affection Seen in “I Stand Here Ironing” Babies need love and affection and when they get older they need a proper support system and a stable foundation to help them in becoming a suitable adult. In the text “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen tones of sympathy, honesty, and guilt are shown through the narrator as she recollects the events in raising her daughter Emily. This text shows how neglect in a child’s raising can alter the personality and how they express themselves over time. Tillie Olsen does a respectable job of presenting an unhealthy relationship between mother and daughter. In “I Stand Here Ironing” daughter Emily has a rough life full of mental issues due to her mother’s neglect and lack of affection given. The narrator living in a time of depression, is enable to contribute into the life that Emily would need, and being a single mother she sent her daughter away to be cared for by others avoiding the nurture that is needed by a child. “I used to try to hold and love her after she came back…. after a while she’d push away,” indicates discomfort between the two. After having so much distance between the two there was not a love and connection that a mother would usually obtain with their child, which doesn’t allow a family relationship. The narrator remarries and has another child, at the time Emily is sick and they send her away once more to protect the newborn. At the convalescent center Emily tries to reach out about the mistreatment that...
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...Every time that I’m hearing the word “Freedom”, I’m seeing a lot of things going on with it. If someone has it, he or she could do a lot of things in the world because they have a power to do things to make themselves better. There are three short stories, which the protagonist of the stories had the freedom. One of the stories, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin that talks about Mrs. Mallard saw a freedom for herself after having a thought that her husband is dead, but she felt it in just a moment. Second, the “A&P” by John Updike, which talks about Sammy who discovered freedom after he saw himself having more and better opportunities after he quits his job. The last is the story of Tillie Olsen “I Stand Here Ironing”, which talked about...
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