Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
I Stand Here Ironing - Online Essay

I Stand Here Ironing


A Mother’s Decision In the short story "" by Tillie Olsen, the reader is introduced to a mother faced with a strong internal conflict involving her eldest daughter Emily. Emily’s mother makes a very meaningful statement at the end of the story. Her statement was "help [Emily] to know that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron" (Olsen, 582). This statement shows the reader that the mother wants her daughter to have a better life than what she has had up to this point. Emily’s mother feels as though she has neglected her daughter in some sense. Throughout the story she describes two negative aspects of Emily’s childhood. First she ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

she was two "all baby loveliness gone" (Olsen, 579). At this time in the story, the reader is able to see a change in the way the mother describes her child. The mother goes from seeing Emily as a beautiful baby to seeing her as a thin two-year-old. Emily grows into a young child who was self-conscience about her appearance, "thin and foreign-looking at a time when every girl was supposed to look [like the] replica of Shirley Temple" (Olsen, 580). Emily’s mother pondered several ways to comfort her daughter’s physical insecurities. The next big decision that Emily’s mother had to make was sending Emily to a convalescent home. The mother was persuaded to send Emily to this school by a social worker. Emily was still a thin girl; the school would often notify her mother that she would not eat. "It took us eight months to get [Emily] released home, and only the fact that she gained back so little of her seven lost pounds convinced the social worker" ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login


CITE THIS PAGE:

I Stand Here Ironing. (2004, April 2). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/I-Stand-Here-Ironing/5592
"I Stand Here Ironing." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 2 Apr. 2004. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/I-Stand-Here-Ironing/5592>
"I Stand Here Ironing." Essayworld.com. April 2, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/I-Stand-Here-Ironing/5592.
"I Stand Here Ironing." Essayworld.com. April 2, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/I-Stand-Here-Ironing/5592.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 4/2/2004 04:05:55 PM
Category: English
Type: Free Paper
Words: 643
Pages: 3

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Helpless Before The Iron In Ols...
» I Stand Here Ironing Literary
» I Stand Here Ironing
» Fiction Analysis Question # 1: ...
» Love And Acceptance
» Love And Acceptance
» What Is A Short Story
» Mark Twain's Speeches
» My 2AFSB Mysore Experience
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved