Summary:
"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen is a short story about a woman's anxiety in dealing with her daughter, Emily, during the Great Depression. Life's problems are too much to handle to the point she sees only pessimism where Emily is concerned.
In the short story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen, the reader is introduced to a mother living in the midst of the Great Depression dealing with angst and anxiety towards her daughter Emily. Because this story looks back during the Great Depression when Emily was born the mother's trauma is coming between the both of them. The mother wants her daughter to live a beautiful life, however, poverty, depression and dislocation has built a wall between the two women.
The mother is doing everything she can to make Emily's life worth living. However, because the mother is trying so hard to juggle more than one job at a time she has less time with her daughter. During the Great Depression it was next to impossible to find a job. The mother would have less stress in her life if she had a strong dependable job with flexible hours so she could be with her daughter. The mother cannot care for her daughter to her full potential when all she is doing is working just to keep her daughter nourished, healthy and safe. The mother's character is living in a world where the word well-off is next to impossible to comprehend, "[she] found a job hashing at night so [she] could be with her days." (p.158). The mother wishes making money would not have to be the life she lived just to be next to her daughter. During the Great Depression this wish was impossible to fulfil. Thus leaving the mothers character in a lack of hope for a better future.
Because the mother is living in a world of depression a dark wall has wrapped itself around her. Worrying solemnly about the life of her daughter, the mother is neglecting to appreciate the positive attributes her daughter is presenting. Emily is a gifted comedian, "Where does it come from, that comedy?" (p.159) being a comedian during the Great Depression is almost as rare as finding water during an extensive drought. If the mother wasn't as depressed she would be able to appreciate the comedy that Emily is passionate for. The mother's character is left in a state of helplessness reaching out beyond depression to view the comedian inside her daughter.
Having to send Emily in her early days to live with her father was a burdensome nuisance. All of Emily's father's attributes were rubbing off on her, "all of the baby loveliness gone," (p.158). This dislocation between the mother's character and the daughter is hard to overcome. If the mother had a choice she wouldn't send Emily off, the pain of not seeing Emily grow up everyday leaves the mother broken hearted. Living with no financial support for Emily the mother is left with choices she cannot refuse but would never consider in a life living with out desperate measures.
The character of Emily's mother is faced with many predicaments in her life. Because this story is set during the Great Depression the mother is dealing with more then a single mother would during this day and age. Bad choices were the only choices that could be made to fit situations. Dealing with all the setbacks of the Great Depression made the mother's character think she was doing everything wrong. I believe that if the mother had Emily during the 1990's both their lives would be different and the mother would be far a happier person because it would be easier to find a job and get financial aid.
This is the complete article, containing 580 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
