I Stand Here Ironing

3 Pages 784 Words

In the short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, a mother looks back at her life as her daughter’s parent. In this short story the main characters are a mother and her daughter named Emily. The story is being mentally told by a mother, while ironing, explaining her daughter’s life from an infant to her teenage years. The mother is recalling Emily’s life due to being contacted by a possible counselor at Emily’s school. The mother’s painful reminiscence reflects the theme that a parent’s sincere efforts in raising children are often hampered by outside forces.
There is a point in Emily’s life that shows her mother’s sincere efforts in rearing her daughter with the best intentions. The mother is monetarily providing for her daughter but sacrificing the mother-daughter bonding time. The mother is thinking about the time when Emily was eight months old and she had to leave her with a babysitter. The reason due to the mother taking a job and looking for more work was to support her new daughter. Emily’s father left her mother because he “could no longer endure (he wrote in his good-bye note).” The mother would leave Emily in the daytime “with the woman downstairs to whom she was no miracle at all.” The mother was nineteen when she gave birth to Emily during the “pre-relief, pre-WPA (Work Projects Administration) world of depression.” Emily’s mother “After a while [she] found a job hashing at night so [she] could be with [Emily] days. But it came to where [she] had to bring her to [Emily’s father’s] family and leave her.” This is just one of the incidents that make the mother question her parenting practices.
It seems that no matter what the mother tries to do to help the best interest of her daughter, it does not turn out as she planned. The mother continues to reflect upon Emily’s past years and their life struggles. The mother is still questioning her parental skills...