The effects of the Great Depression on

American women in I stand here ironing by Tillie

Olsen
by Mihaela Toma
I stand here ironing is a short story written by Tillie Olsen and published in the
short story collection titled Tell me a riddle in 1961. The story tells the tale of an
American woman that relates the hardships she has endured while raising her eldest
daughter, Emily. The story is told from a first person perspectie and the action is set
during the !reat "epression and the #econd $orld $ar. % intend to loo& into the
influence of the economical and historical conte'ts on American households.
The entire story consists of a monologue told through stream of consciousness.
The narrator is a woman that loo&s bac& on the mista&es she made with respect to
bringing up her daughter Emily. The monologue is set off by a telephone discussion with
a person in a position of authority with regards to Emily(s education. The narrator, who is
Emily(s mother, shows confusion when the other person on the phone suggests that she
might hae better insight into Emily(s personality and thought process. The narrator feels
distant from Emily and she is guilty and shameful of failing to help Emily reach her full
potential.
$hen Emily was born, the narrator was nineteen years old. After eight months,
the narrator(s husband left because he could no longer stand the poerty. )aing no other
means of supporting herself, the narrator was forced to get a *ob and placed Emily in the
care of a neighbour who didn(t treat Emily with affection or care. Eentually, Emily was
sent to her father(s family to be ta&en care of. $hen the girl turned two, she was placed
in a day care facility, because her mother had to wor& during the day in order to support
the family. At another point in her life, when Emily was sic& with tuberculosis, she was
sent to stay at a conalescent home.
To summari+e things, all throughout her life, Emily was placed in the care of
others and that changed her from a happy, energetic girl to a somber and introerted
person. Emily has difficulty in school, because she is not popular. )er loo&s are dar& and
she is considered to be a slow learner. "uring that time, girls that were fair and blonde,
with a per&y demeanor and a ,uic&ness of mind were alued. At that time in America,
society was in faour of a melting pot population as opposed to nowadays, where the
tendency is towards a salad bo' approach. Emily was the oldest of fie children, her
mother haing remarried. )er younger sister #usan is all that she wishes to be. #he has
blonde hair and ,uic& wit and although she is fie years younger than Emily, she loo&s
only a year apart. Emily, haing lied in other people(s care for most of her childhood
and haing suffered through the measles and tuberculosis loo&s drawn and slim. Emily
has self confidence issues, which ma&e her resent #usan, who is eerything she wishes
she could be.
The action is set against the bac&drop of the !reat "epression, where it was
difficult for single mothers to care for their children. The narrator blames Emily(s
deelopment on the socio-economical circumstances at the time, but ac&nowledges that
she had a hand in what went wrong, because she was a young mother and didn(t &now
how to treat her daughter. .ecause she had to wor& and ta&e care of her child, the mother
was ery glum and she beliees that her past attitude remained ingrained in Emily. The
narrator confesses that while she was nineteen and wor&ing to support her child, she did
not hae the lu'ury of stopping and considering what effects her actions will hae on
Emily in the future. .ecause of the poor conditions she grew under, Emily did not hae
the lu'ury of misbehaing or causing problems normal children cause eery day. #he had
to tolerate unpleasantness and get used to it.
The story reeals a realistic side to motherhood from those times. !one were the
days when the mother was all smiles and acted as a guide for eerything the children
accomplished. The narrator confesses to leaing Emily alone for many hours after she
was remarried. After she had other children, the narrator tried to change her attitude
towards Emily, but it was too late, because by that time Emily had started to rebuff
affection and care from her mother. The story shows that the romantici+ed iew of the
/ideal mother0 had no bearing in reality and that the lower classes had to struggle greatly
in order to proide the bare necessities.
Although the narrator reali+es that she has failed Emily, she shows no intention of
trying to remedy the situation. #he simply e'presses the hope that Emily will turn out fine
in the end, as a result of her own struggle. There is a sort of passiity that permeates the
story, which shows that the narrator considers difficulties to be a part of life and that she
has faced them, so it is only natural that her child face them too. $hile other mothers
would attempt to preent their child from going oer the same hurdles that they did
themseles, in this case, the mother has accepted the fact that she can do nothing to
preent future anguish.
As it happened in many cases throughout history, poerty and low self esteem
producde great thin&ers, entertainers and in many cases, great comedic minds. This is the
case with Emily. To escape the blea&ness of her life, she deeloped her comedic s&ills.
This is a form of escapism, that many children tend to do when they are dissilussioned
with their daily lies. #usan, Emily(s younger sister li&es to ta&e Emily(s stories and
riddles and present them as her own, because she has no problems with self esteem and
li&es to be in the center of attention. This intensifies Emily(s disli&e of her younger sister.
)oweer, once her mother encourages her to show her comedic s&ill at school, Emily
begins to receie pri+es and becomes ery popular. This is not necessarily a good thing,
because if in the past Emily was marginali+ed due to her loo&s and her being considered a
slow learned, now she is singled out due to her humour and popularity. $hile seeing her
on stage, her mother confesses that she does not recogni+e that Emily, which shows
command of the stage and ample confidence. $hile on stage, Emily impersonates
different characters, which shows that she longs to be someone else, to escape from her
own reality.
The title of the story illustrates the main theme perfectly. %roning represents the
responsibility that women hae for their children. %ronically enough, this responsibility
preents the narrator from being a better mother for her daughter. Another interpretation
of the title could be that while her daughter is growing up, the mother concerns herself
with unimportant chores. #he is ironing her daughter(s dress, showing concern for her
appearance, while totally disregarding her daughter(s issues with her loo&s. The repetitie
moement of the iron bac& and forth across the garment is a metaphor for the thought
process of the mother, who is going bac& and forth oer what she did wrong in raising
Emily.
%n an America set in the !reat "epression, motherhood is not longer a process of
self-actuali+ation and deelopment for women. $hat it does is strand them on an island
filled with responsibilities and obstacles for self-growth that seem insurmountable. The
so-called bond that e'ists between mother and child is absent in this story. The narrator
confesses that she does not &now the true nature of her child and that she has already
resigned herself to the thought that she neer will. This story is groundbrea&ing in that it
manages to lift the eil off people(s eyes and show that enironmental factors hae
changed the dynamic of American families, that mothers can no longer be there for their
children, because they hae other pressing issues, which relegate interaction with
children to second place.
To better understand the story it is necessary to place it at the *unction of two
forces. The first one is the !reat "epression, while the second one is the feminist
moement that started in the 1912(s. The action ta&es place before the $3A 4The $or&
3rogress Administration5 was instituted. The $3A was an agency that found *obs for
people, instead of giing them welfare. 46rye, 19978 1915 The struggles that women faced
during the !reat "epression acted as a catalyst for the emergence of the feminist
moement not long after. 6aced with poerty and a growing number of responsibilities,
without any benefits, women sought to gain more rights for themseles.
%n the story, the narrator calls Emily /a child of her age, of depression, of war and
fear.0 4Olsen, :22;8 7215 This ,uotation shows Tillie Olsen(s belief that indiidual lies
can be greatly influenced by all manner of enironmental factors and that only so much
can be done to oercome these obstacles, which means that an entire generation of people
were molded by the effects of the !reat "epression and the emergence of the #econd
$orld $ar
Bibliography:
O<#E=, T. 4:22;5, /% #tand )ere %roning.0 The Seagull Reader Stories: Second
Edition. Ed. >oseph ?elley. =ew @or&8 =orton, 721-712. 3rint
6A@E, >. #. 419975, BC% #tand )ere %roning08 Motherhood as E'perience and
Metaphor.B The Critical Response to Tillie Olsen. 1:;-199. $estport, DT8 !reenwood.