I Stand Here Ironing Analysis

The mother in the short story “I Stand Here Ironing” and the mother in the poem “Daystar” are very important characters. The mother in “I stand Here Ironing” has a negative personality. She is very powerless. On page 80, the mother says, “You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” This shows just because she is the mother that doesn’t mean she has this magic to help. She has a very negative attitude instead of being happy. Her place in society was being poor. She had many jobs to support herself. The Mother in “Daystar” has a tired personality. Her place in society is not described that much. She may be a person that is poor, and is a single parent. Moving on from the mothers’ personalities and where they stand in society, the mothers have many similarities. They are both mothers. They both have more than one child. They are compared to having an inner conflict. They have responsibilities taking care of their children. The mothers may have many similarities, although what make them different are their inner conflicts.
On page 80, it says, “There is all that life that has happened outside of me, beyond me. And when is there time to remember, to sift, to weigh, to estimate, to total?” These sentences show that her regrets that were from the past reflect upon the present. She doesn’t know what to do, and she regrets that. In “Daystar”, the mother inner conflict is that she wants time to herself from her children. On page 89, it says, “She wanted a little room for thinking: but she saw diapers steaming on the line, a doll slumped behind the door.” This shows she wants time, but she has kids to take care of because they are her responsibilities. Both of the mothers have cared for their children, but also the children feel something about their parents, and they also learn something from