I Stand Here Ironing Answers

“I Stand Here Ironing”
Responses to questions:
1. The narrator is not a good mother because she does not care about Emily’s future. The narrator is the mother of Emily, Susan, and Ronnie. She says that the father of Emily left her “[…] before [Emily] was a year old” (paragraph 55). She had to get a job and work during Emily’s “[…] first six years” (55). The narrator went to Nursery School because she believed that it was the only way “[…] [she] could hold a job” (13) during the Great Depression. She work very hard in order to provide for her family; however, she never really provide emotional support to her children. The narrator says, “I was working, there were four smaller ones now, there was not time for her” (44). We can see that the
narrator was always working and very busy, she had no time for Emily whatsoever.
The narrator had “Mornings of crisis and near hysteria trying to get lunches packed, hair combed, coats, and shoes found, everyone to school or Child Care on time […]” (44). Emily never really shared many things with her mother, she would tell her “everything and nothing as she fixes herself a plate of food out of the icebox” (51). Moreover, when the narrator saw Emily’s gift for comedy, she says that “[she] ought to do something about her with a gift like that – but without money or knowing how, what does one do?” (49). This demonstrates that the narrator have no intentions to help Emily to become successful or even to help her to pursue her passion. She is not willing to sacrifice herself for her children. The narrator says to the teacher that “[Emily] is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear” (55). We can see
that mother uses excuses to not care or help Emily. The narrator thinks that it’s normal for Emily to be depressed. She says her “wisdom came too late” (55) to Emily because she never really guided her while she was growing up. A good mother will always want the best for her children. The narrator does not seem to be concern for her Emily’s future giving her current footsteps. She believes that she has provide Emily the things she needs; however, Emily needs more emotional support from her mother which is not as easy to obtain, because you cannot work for it or buy it, it has to come naturally from her mother. The narrator does not care about Emily’s future because she believes that Emily can handle the future by herself.

2. Emily has changed by the end of the story because she begins to care more about intangible things. Emily has always been worry about the future. She never really like going to school when she was younger. She would ask her mother to let her stay at home, and she would also make up a bunch of excuses about why she should not go to school (15). Emily feared being left alone at her house when she was little; “night after night she had nightmares,” and she was “[…] skeleton thin […]” (23) and did not like to eat at all. We can see that Emily went through different types of struggles when growing up as a child. The narrator says, “School was a worry for [Emily]” (37) because professors considered her a slow learner. Emily had very low self-esteem. She would worry a lot about her appearance. She constantly compares herself to others, and “she tormented herself enough about not looking like others” (42). This demonstrates that school was very tough for Emily as well as, keeping up with her social status within society. However, towards the end of the story her mother asks her about midterms, and she says, “in a couple of years when we’ll all be atom-dead they won’t matter a bit” (53). We can see that Emily stops worrying about school and starts to focus more in other stuff. Emily evolves more towards the end of the story because she learned that certain things won’t really matter once we die. When she was a child she used to be concern about things that do not really have value. Emily shows that intangible things are important than other things such a midterm.

3.
Based on the evidence in the story, Emily and her mother would never be able to share a close relationship because her mother does not care about Emily’s future. Emily’s mother says, “I was working, there were four smaller ones now, there was no time for her” (45). This demonstrates that Emily’s mother thinks that she never really had time to be with Emily and develop a close a relationship with her due to her busy life as a mother and worker. On the other hand, Emily never really felt a strong connection with her mother either. When her mother asks her “Are you awake, Emily?” “Can I get you something?” Emily’s answer will always be the same, “No, I am all right, go back to sleep, Mother” (25). We can see that there was a lack of communication between the daughter and the mother. Emily’s mother do not even try to develop a bond with her daughter, she believes that “[…] it is too late” (25) for her to care about Emily in a deeply emotional way. Emily’s mother says to the teacher that when she saw Emily’s gift for comedy, she “[…] ought to do something about her with a gift like that ---but without money or knowing how, what does one do?” (50). We can see that she is not willing to make any sacrifice for Emily, not even learning more about comedy. Emily’s mother does not want her child to succeed in life; therefore, she will only hold her back. Emily, on the other hand, needs someone to help her but her mother believes that she is old enough to help herself. Emily and her
mother will never be able to develop a close relationship because Emily’s mother is concern about her life now or future.