I Stand Here Ironing

I found this story very touching. We were assigned to read this in Mr. Conrad's English 1h class. While rereading it this time it became a lot more clear the chronology and context. This narrator is a strong woman! She made so many sacrifices for her daughter, for survival. Tillie Olsen writes in a way that shows Emily's transition from thriving baby to sickly child to (almost) blooming young woman. Emily is potential. The narrator is love. They are both products of their time. I would like to explore the themes of love, sacrifice, and transformation in this piece for they are most prominent.

Transformation was very important in this story. The reader sees the process of how Emily came to be the person she is. It is also clear how the mother changes throughout. She learns how to mother through experience, not always getting things right the first time. The mother always does what she thinks is best by finding people to watch Emily while working (probably earning less than men because of the time in history). Emily is forced to learn self sufficiency.

http://www.anglonautes.com/syn/syn_part_ing_woman_ironing.jpg

The mother shows her love for Emily through all the sacrifices she made. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13). Mother was not self-seeking. She got a night job to spend more time with Emily, trusted her to be home alone, was not angry when she withheld affection.

It was a bit sad for he mother to have that person (a councilor perhaps) come in because they were concerned for her. At this point Emily found a niche, and the family was doing well. Also the action of ironing brought the narrator back to the room where she told the story, back to the councilor. It fit so well with the mother's character to be doing some chore, another little sacrifice for her children. "A mother's work is never done."

I think Emily needed a little Validation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao