My Mother Never Worked

3 Pages 813 Words

Invaluable- Yet Taken for Granted

Has there ever been a time during life that a significant task has been completed; yet gone unnoticed? “My Mother Never Worked” by Donna Smith-Yackel and “On Fire” by Larry Brown are two narrative essays, when compared relate how differently society views these two very important roles. Both jobs have many rewards and differences, however society views a firefighter as having an occupation, whereas they see a stay-at-home mother as not employed.
“My Mother Never Worked” was basically about the everyday life of a housewife in the early to mid 1900’s. Our society generally takes for granted the tasks, responsibilities, and struggles a woman goes through being a stay-at-home wife. Whereas, in the essay “On Fire” the author receives a sense of gratuity for the job he is doing. The lead character, Larry Brown, explains his day-to-day tasks such as testing the pump on the truck, making sure the tuck is full of fuel, clean and full of water; you have to check that your clothes are all together, your lights and sirens because everything has to be ready to go. Likewise, Martha Smith endured strenuous work from raising, and feeding farm animals, taking care of eight children, milking cows, harvesting a garden and canning all of the goods, to making the clothing for herself, husband, and children, carpets, coats, and doing the laundry. Smith was a very noble woman, however all of her hard work was not considered to be a job, just a way of life. Larry Brown, on the other hand, always had to be prepared for anything.
Smith and Brown both learned a lot through their lives doing their jobs. Brown had a lot to learn about fire fighting. He describes his basic training, learning every inch of a fire truck, every instrument and tool and how it works, how to prep the truck first thing when arriving to work and make sure everything is functioning properly, even first aid. Smith grew ...