I Stand Here Ironing: An Effective Example of Parental Guilt and Eventual Exoneration
Motherhood can be a stressful experience and it can become even more complex when fraught with guilt. In the short story, I stand here Ironing, Tillie Olsen transcribes a mother's reconstruction of her life to frame her guilt properly and possibly purge herself of the same. The physical action of the iron as it goes back and forth is juxtaposed with the mental process of reflection on the past and the present. "I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth 1 with the iron." (p. 12) A guilt-ridden mother reconstructs her past to understand her daughter's present behavior, blaming herself for possible neglect as Emily was growing up. As mother goes back to fetch her past life, we as readers get a glimpse of Emily's childhood. There are few intrusions that bring her back to the present like "I put the iron down" (p. 12); "Ronnie is calling. He is wet and I change him" (p. 17); "She is coming." (p. 19). But this journey of recollection ends on a positive note, "At the end she comes to understand that she'd done the best she could, given the circumstances-but this simple insight, and her journey toward it, are quietly devastating." (Disher, 2001: 91)Emily is a nineteen year old in the present. She is c
onfident woman and has found the art of self-expression through mime. "She kept too much in herself, her life was such she had to keep too much in herself. But the seeing eyes were few or non-existent. That is when she wants to be assured of her beauty and her attractiveness. The mother doesn't try to exonerate herself even for a second but realizes that there is just so much one could do for a child and that Emily is now responsible for her self. She has much to her and probably little will come of it. Emily's counselor insists she 'needs help' but her mother acknowledges Emily's skill as a mime artist and knows that she has found an inner strength through this art. But she was young herself and by the time she realized something had to be done, she also realized she had lost the key. Emily had grown into a skilled performer of mime and that was her greatest source of self-esteem.
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,
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