AP-1
651
Do You Wrinkle This or Did I?
Are we born the person we are today, or are we a product of our life and times? The narrator of “I Stand Here Ironing” carefully tip toes a line between attributing her daughter’s character to simply who she is and the atmosphere her mother has created. Tillie Olsen depicts a desperate mother who is struggles to place the blame upon things that are outside her control while knowing it rests upon herself. Is it the nature of Emily to have bloomed later in life, or could she only grow when her surrounding permitted such expansion? The mother eventually concludes that “[s]he is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear,” but I believe that the narrator knows she is the one who has done this to Emily.
The narrator describes her first- born daughter as a “beautiful baby.” Yet as she grows older she relies on her mother to repeatedly reassure her of her good looks. The narrator views her baby as a tiny miracle, yet contact with her beloved child is reduced, as her era’s economic strife requires her to work. The mother’s lovely baby becomes foreign and seems to lose her initial tenderness. As the narrator’s financial situation continues to worsen, the bond with her daughter is replaced by “parking places for children” or nursery school. When Emily is old enough to go to school, the narrator attempts to justify why she let her daughter stay home regularly. The mother claims her softness to be “all the acts of love,” yet her daughter’s absence from school only puts her at a disadvantage.
Although Emily’s nature may have been the reason she disliked school, her mother’s inability to encourage her daughter’s attendance at school puts her daughter in a weak position. She even sends Emily to a boarding school to raise her with a structure she mother cannot create. She continues to blame other factors for her daughter’s difficulties. She laments that “it was too late for Emily” and blames her daughter for not responding to her feeble efforts to help her with claims such as “as if she would let me hold and comfort her like I do the others.” Yet, behind this mask of apathy and culpability, it is evident the narrator knows she can help her daughter emerge from her deep confusion. Her guilt is subtlety revealed throughout the story as she admits, “I was a young mother, I was a distracted mother.” She continually stresses to ‘let [Emily] be,” yet I believe she knows it is this attitude that has almost destroyed her daughter.
The narrator would like to be able to believe herself when she attributes Emily’s character to her daughter’s nature and to factors outside of her control. Yet, she is covertly aware it is truly her nurturing (or lack thereof) that is responsible for Emily’s personality. Tillie Olsen may also be making a statement about the state of life during the depression; the helplessness of a mother as she tries to support her family and care for their emotional needs.
Yet, I believe that although it is true the narrator feels an internal guilt for her daughter’s situation and a desperation caused by the financial crunch facing her family, Emily’s success in comedy is Olsen’s glimmer of optimism. It may have been Emily’s mother who did not create the optimal environment in which to grow up, but it was her nature that allowed her to discover her own happiness. Perhaps her mother was too quick to label her as a troubled youth when it was her daughter’s nature to find later in her life. Her mother’s lack of action may have held her down in her childhood, yet it was Emily’s innate comedy skills that allowed her to begin to realize her potential as a young adult.
Questions for Discussion
1) What statement does Tillie Olsen make about the generation that lived through the Depression?
2) Do you think that the narrator sees the true Emily? Or do you think she does not understand the depth of her daughter?
3)What is the significance of the last line, "Only to help her know--help make it so there is cause for her to know--that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron." Is this hypocritical of the mother to say?
4) Why could the narrator care for Emily's siblings better than she could for Emily?
2 comments:
I like how you describe not only the narrator's personal failings, but also her sometimes subtle feelings of guilt. In my opinion, those two aspects of her personality are what makes her such an interesting character, and you captured both of them very well. Your essay was also very well organized with a clear thesis and well developed paragraphs. The only thing that you might consider adjusting is explaining more clearly what you mean that the author "is making a point" about depression-era life. Overall, you did a great job.
Great job, Jess!
I'm sorry I didn't comment earlier - I've gotten pretty side-tracked from being sick and everything. I hope you get a chance to read this today (although I'm sure your revisions are going along wonderfully.
I really enjoyed your essay, and I think you did a great job stressing throughout the essay that her mother did have more of a responsibility for her daughter's development than she wanted to accept.
The only thing that troubled me in your essay was a sentence in the last paragraph - "Perhaps her mother was too quick to label her as a troubled youth when it was her daughter’s nature to find later in her life." I'm just not sure about the phrase "troubled youth" because that phrase to me connotes a defiant or difficult child, but Emily just seems to be more sickly and passive...I'm not sure, just something to consider. Also, in that sentence (you probably already noticed this), you forgot to add what it is she finds later in her life.
So, I hope I didn't do this too late for you to find it. And again, congratulations on an awesome paper!
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