I Stand Here Ironing By Tillie Olsen

All parents dream of giving their children what they were unable to have as a child. However, uncontrollable circumstances have the ability to prevent parents from fulfilling this vision and they are compelled to continue through life with what life has granted them. Life is not predictable and it is filled with twists and turns which we are unable to see. This leads to parents being caught up in other situations; making them blind to what is most important in life. The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen depicts young mothers’ reflection on her life, which is filled with regret and struggle as she tries to raise her daughter. Through elements such as the mothers’ bias point of view, character development and personality; Olsen exposes a young woman’s’ struggle with motherhood. Her strife with guilt, responsibility and burden is contrasted to society’s expectations and ideals of motherhood. The narrator of the short story “I Stand Here Ironing” reflects on the upbringing of her eldest child, Emily. In her point of view she expresses guilt and regret on the way she raised
Through the excessive obsession the mother has with recalling the past nineteen years, she neglects to see the person her daughter truly is. She weakly describes Emily as selfless, thoughtful, and sensitive. However, the positive reflections are overlooked by the negative details of her being of sickly nature and having low-self esteem. Emily does not express her own views of her childhood in the short story which makes it difficult to see her perspective. As a result, her ability to create a bright, unique and vibrant character when she performs comedy is Olsens way of giving Emily a voice in the story. She has a desire to become someone else; surpassing her present reality, and escaping the moral degration, lack of affection, and negative atmosphere that has affected her the past nineteen years of her