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I Stand Here Ironing

            
             In the short story "I stand here Ironing" the main character Mom and Dorothy from "The Waltz" and "But the One on the Right" are both quite similar and different in each of their strengths. They are both very strong women. Mom had to be a very independent woman all throughout her life. Dorothy was not as independent because she had to do the things that she did not want to because of social manners. Mom was also more independent because she had to go her whole life without any support from anyone. Dorothy was still somewhat strong because it still took her some courage to go and talk to the people on each side of her at her table and also to go up and dance with the only man left at the table after everyone else left.
             Both Mom and Dorothy are very strong women because of how they acted in the different situations that they were in. Dorothy was in two very tough situations. In "The Waltz" she was at a table full of people and when a new song came on everyone at the table except her and another man who was not a good dancer got up and went out on the dance floor. When it was just those two left on the table the man asked Dorothy to dance and inside she did not want to dance with him at all. She knew that he danced as if he had two left feet and he was not her first choice as a dance partner. Then when the song was finished, she still wanted to continue to dance and she wanted another waltz because she did not want to be rude and tell him that he was a terrible dancer. She was trying to be as polite as possible because back in the day it would have been really impolite to tell him that she did not want to dance with him because of social manners. In "The One on the Right" Dorothy is placed on a table in between two people where the one on the left is a person that she can talk to but the one on the right is always talking to the person on his right. So every time that she tries to talk to the man on her right he barely talks to her because he is more interested in talking with the woman on his right.


Essays Related to I Stand Here Ironing

1. Interpretation on I Stand Here Ironing

... . Both are heavily contributing to the big idea Olsen is trying to emphasize in her Mother-Daughter story. In the very beginning of "I Stand Here Ironing," the narrator tells us that she cannot provide the "key" to her daughter's life. "There is all that life that ... She started managing her sadness and depression in a way that doesn't make her feel empty inside. One of the main themes displayed in "I Stand Here Ironing" is poverty. The story proves how difficult it can be trying to find a job with little to no education. It also highlights the strains ... be a burden and both the par...

  • Word Count: 1084
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

2. I Stand Here Ironing: Time and Change

... important work about the 1930's. Almost 30 years into this journey, she published the novella "Tell Me a Riddle- along with three other novella's including "I Stand Here Ironing-; the prior earning her the O. Henry Award as the best American story of 1961. The latter, however, is no less spectacular as it flows seamlessly ... from paragraph to paragraph for four pages and encompasses 19 years of life. "I Stand Here Ironing-, the focus of this paper, is found in Prof. Helton's "moral choice- section of his Humanities 212 class. Unless you began reading this novella with ... her to know "h...

  • Word Count: 1379
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Ironing

Finding the Answer Tillie Olsen's short story "I Stand Here Ironing" portrays a mother faced with an overwhelming internal conflict with her oldest daughter, Emily. The mother wants Emily to have a better life ... mathematical equation. This language reflects the theme that the mother is trying to solve a problem regarding her daughter. The problem is first introduced while the mother is "ironing" (1) and Emily's teacher comes over to her house to share her concerns about Emily's schoolwork. The teacher states that Emily is a "youngster who needs help," ... appeal to the senses of the reade...

  • Word Count: 851
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. I Stand Here Ironing

Journal for I stand here Ironing In Tillie Olsen's short autobiographical story I Stand Here Ironing, she gives the reader a glimpse into her life, the choices she made as a mother, and a single parent. The question of whom or what is to blame for Emily's problematic childhood ... mother does not consider Emily's needs, and her own. She seems to approach life ignorantly, simply succumbing to her circumstances in a passive manner. She seems to be eternally obliged to "Stand and Iron" out the wrinkles and mistakes that she has made in the past, and will make again and again....

  • Word Count: 1041
  • Approx Pages: 4

5. I Stand Here Ironing

In Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing, Emily is the narrator's character of focus. The narrator is clearly her mother who has been left by Emily's father when Emily was less than one year old. Emily was ... ...

  • Word Count: 440
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. eatme

I stand here ironing "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen is a depiction of a mother-daughter relationship that lacks involvement and warmth. The whole story is composed of the mother's memory of her relationship with her daughter, Emily. ... not under Emily's mother's control, she takes responsibility anyway. In society, parents are thought to provide physical and emotional support so that their children can advance through life with prosperity. "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen is a depiction of a mother-daughter relationship that lacks involvement and warmth. The whole story compos...

  • Word Count: 1512
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Lost of Hope

... Miller's Death of a Salesman, the plots center around the problems of a child. In "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily is a young girl affected negatively by her mother's lack of care and the time of cold war. Like Emily, in "Death of a Salesman", Biff is a young boy who is not well prepared to stand on his own feet in the life because of his father's inadequate advisories ... a nothing. "I"m one dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven states and couldn't raise it. A buck an hour!" (1363). These words show how Biff is hopeless about his life. Like, Biff, in I Stand Here Ironing, Emily is a young,...

  • Word Count: 565
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Oley

... in her conquest of life. It may seem like an unwanted phrase to many, but it has deep meaning behind it. This phrase is almost whispered by the narrator of "I Stand Here Ironing," Tillie Olsen, and also by many other mothers going through an important stage in their lives. The stage in life that the mother in the story is going through is ... and often separated from the mother, is "skeleton thin," dark, quiet, slow, and thoughtful."(EO 80) The narrator is, seemingly, expressing how she grew up. The question that is posed here is, why would a mother say such words about her daughter, wi...

  • Word Count: 818
  • Approx Pages: 3

9. Parent/ Child Relationship

... Butler Yeats piece, "A Prayer for My Daughter". In Roethke's piece he writes, "We romped until the pans slid from the kitchens shelf; [My] mother's countenance could not unfrown itself."(202) Here he reflects on the good time that they had. It is also apparent in, " You beat time on [my] head with a palm caked hard by dirt, then waltzed me off ... parents and their children aren't always good, but also aren't always bad. The relationships are average, but in the end have a some what positive effect on the child. The piece, "I Stand Here Ironing", written by Tillie Olsen, is a great exam...

  • Word Count: 1136
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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