“I Stand Here Ironing” follows a worming class mother as she battle to raise her daughter in the years of the Great Depression to the post World War II era. “ I Stand Here Ironing shows how the most commonplace, humble experiences can lead to life affirming values, even in the face of such intimidating forces as nuclear war and economic recession. It does this by painstakingly portraying one woman’s reflections on the work of motherhood.
The narrator is in the middle of ironing, an everyday household chore when the story starts. The story's opening line, “I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron,” expresses her feelings about the subject as she is having a conversation with someone who brings up her daughter. The mother then makes an effort to explain to the inquirer who expresses concern for the daughter’s future, the nature of her limited life, and the nature of her daughter’s desperate effort to forge her own identity in a self-restraining environment. She explains how her daughter has always experienced a cycle of progression followed by regression, and how her current action of ironing perfectly captures this. She describes extreme happiness and joy followed by complete dejection. The ironing is a further illustration of women’s constrained options due to their stereotypical roles as wives and housewives.
Emily, the daughter in question, it the oldest of the woman’s five children. The mother remembers Emily as a young child, describing her beauty and pure joy at just being alive, and how her mother saw Emily as a miracle in her own life. Eight months after Emily is born, her father departs, leaving her mother with no choice but to look for employment in order to provide for her and her daughter. Given how few options she has, she briefly considers leaving her child with her ex-husband for a year. She soon gets married again and has another child. When the narrator starts her second marriage, their lives appear to improve materially, but Emily contracts measles around the time the narrator has another daughter, Susan. While Emily’s mother continues to have children, Emily is sent to a nursing home due to her ill health. These splits have a devastating impact on Emily, making her a distant, lonely young woman with few friends who performs poorly in school. The mother laments that she has no time left for her first-born daughter because the other kids were taking up all of her time.
The theme of motherhood is one of the story’s most prominent and perhaps most significant themes. Olsen focused on the maternal and female love that is selfless and unconditional. The narrator, who is depicted as a diligent woman who is regrettably oppressed by events that occurred in her life, emphasizes this theme. In the story's opening, she describes how her mind is like an iron in that it goes back and forth while she is ironing. She remembers how her daughter’s father abandoned her because of their shared financial hardship. Additionally, as a single mother, she must work extra hours to support her daughter. Similar to how she worries whenever Emily is sick, the narrator recalls how Emily was called a “slow learner” Despite their lack of resources, it is evident that the narrator did her best to care for her daughter and be a mother to others. Likewise, the narrator thinks back on her frustrations as a mother and wishes her child had more choices. The most intriguing aspect of this tale is how the main character is portrayed as a struggling mother rather than as a nurturing and loving parent. She eventually starts to have some regrets about becoming a mother due to the poverty and lack of better options. However, it is also obvious that the narrator did everything within her power to become the best mother she is capable of being, despite her failures to fulfill a nurturing role. She carried the responsibility of parenthood on her own, which others missed. Despite the fact that this task requires two parents, she manages to balance being a mother and a provider. She also only wants the best for her child in the same way. The nature of regret is a recurrent theme in this narrative. She admits that she can’t provide a better life for her daughter and that’s why she lives a life of emotional anguish and constant regret. It’s interesting to note that Emly’s personality is also to blame for her mother’s sense of guilt. In contrast to her sibling, her character actually causes her mother to feel regret and guilt. This is largely attributable to Emily being the firstborn. She was the one who was raised in a situation where poverty was a fact of life, more than anything else. This explains why the narrator feels such sadness and guilt every time she sees her firstborn. Despite this, it’s also intriguing to see how the narrator extends some forgiveness herself because, in her heart of hearts, she knows that she does everything she can to give her child the best life she can afford.
The narrator describes Emily’s development into a popular comedian who performs at her high school and other events towards the end of the story. Even though Emily has discovered a joyful means of expression, the narrator is shrill concerned because she is sure that she lacks the means to support Emily’s talent. When the story comes to a close Emily herself walks into the room where the narrator has been ironing and thinking all along. The narrator finds himself wondering why anyone would be concerned about Emily, who is in a happy, chatty mood. The narrator is left to confront the full, nuanced reality of her daughter’s existence after Emily cracks a joke about dying in an atomic bomb attack and leaves for bed. While acknowledging that she will “never totally it all,” the narrator expresses the hope that Emily will still lead a richer and happier life than her mother, even if she does not reach her ful potential.
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