Abstract This paper looks at how the basis of TillieOlsen's writings reflect the socialism that was part of her family background. In many ways her short stories as well as her novel writing reveal the poverty and struggles for a family to rise above the injustice of radical capitalistic systems. The problem with unregulated monetary or banking systems as was seen in the Stock Market Crash of 1929 is clearly represented through the social milieu of Olsen's characterizations.
From the Paper "The biographical sense of life in the 1930s not only expresses a need for greater balance over radical capitalism, but also expresses the need for realizing how women lived in the Depression Era. In her stories, there is a need to realize her plight for the working person, since was raised in an environment where desperation and labor were the central focus of her work. Furthermore, the essence of socialism as a political structure is emphasized in her activity within Communist and Socialist parties that were being formed and persecuted in this time period. In essence, the life and times of Tillie Olsen will be analyzed through her writings, which will bring forth her socialist political views that were her main literary message to the..."
Abstract This paper looks at the life of TillieOlsen who was born into a working class family and who overcame her disadvantaged upbringing to become a famous author and political activist. Her devotion to her literary work, to her family and to her politics were inextricable from one another and from the larger entity of Tillie herself. This paper also reviews some of her works and evaluates how they are based on lifetime experiences.
From the Paper "Due to her exposure to many politicos and intellectuals, as well as a natural endowment of intellectual capabilities, Tillie was able to transcend the limitations of her socio-economic status, if only for a brief time, to attend an academic high school where she was presented with greater opportunity and a richer education. And though financial needs would force her to drop out a year before she could graduate, she would be fast to point out in later interviews that she was blessed with far more education than most women in her peer group, particularly those born of working class families. But more often than not, her writing was guided heavily by political influences, as opposed to academic ones."
Abstract This paper looks at the book "Yonnondio" from the Thirties written by TillieOlsen. It discusses the key questions concerning how education is seen and discussed throughout the book by the characters, how they approach it and also how the system affects their lives and those around them.
Abstract The paper makes references to Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" "Tell Me a Riddle" and "Silences" and shows how Olsen's views on motherhood are heavily influenced by her own life experiences, especially her experiences as a mother. The paper discusses Olsen's belief that a mother needs to understand her own dependency needs in order to understand who she is as a person.
From the Paper "Tillie Olsen had a life that can hardly be described as easy or comfortable. She lived in poverty and as a young mother, never found time for herself. For this reason, she understood the trials and tribulations of motherhood as well as the need for self discovery. Thus her work, however little, dwelled on the subject of motherhood with respect to self discovery. That is one of the most amazing aspects of Olsen's views on motherhood. Self-discovery is an important aspect of Tillie Olsen's discourse on motherhood."
Abstract This paper discusses TillieOlsen's book "I Stand Here Ironing" that looks at the stresses and guilt feelings that surround motherhood. The paper relates that book is about a mother's reconstruction of her life to frame her guilt properly and possibly purge herself of the same.
From the Paper "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)"
Abstract This paper introduces, discusses and analyzes the short essays Dorothy Allison's "A Question of Class," and TillieOlsen's "I Stand Here Ironing," Specifically, it shows how the impact of poverty shapes the personality of the individual and how this theme is developed in both essays. The paper shows that poverty affects each person differently. Some people simply accept poverty, and have no hope for the future. Others, like the two women characterized in the essays, do not accept poverty, but see it differently, and therefore react to it differently.
From the Paper "The author of "I Stand Here Ironing," Tillie Olsen, was born in 1913 to immigrant parents. As a young woman she worked in factories, as a waitress, and a laundress, so she understood the poverty and oppression she writes about in this work. This story was originally published in 1961. The story illustrates the grinding poverty during the era of the Great Depression in the United States, and how difficult that poverty made life for women and their children. It also shows its affect on later generations, when it affects the daughter Emily's life, too. She has to take care of the younger children, and really never has a childhood of her own. Her mother remembers, "I was a young mother, I was a distracted mother. There were other children pushing up, demanding" (Olsen). In the story, it is obvious that it was mostly poverty that created the situation that forced a mother to neglect her young child. As the mother irons, she remembers, and the story draws the reader into her world."
Abstract Paper analyzes TillieOlsen's short story "I Stand Here Ironing." It focuses on the imagery of the story and on symbolism. The iron, the clothes, and the ironing board are symbolic for Emily at different stages of her life.
From the Paper "Imagery is the author's language describing a situation that would appeal to one or more of the five senses of the reader. In the short story ?I Stand Here Ironing,? author Tillie Olsen uses literal language to call up a mental picture in the readers? mind. In the last line of the story Emily's mother says, "Only help [Emily] to know"that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron? (659). The image, ironing a dress, compares to actually raising a child. The dress represents the child, the iron is the child's parents and society, and the ironing board is their expectations. The theme this image conveys is that children grow up to become individuals as a result of their interaction with their parents and society, their experiences, and their own insight, not by simply being "ironed" into society's preconceived model."
Abstract This paper summarizes and reviews "I Stand Here Ironing" by TillieOlsen. The paper describes the main characters in the story; how they are affected by their cultural, familial, and personal circumstances; and the consequences of these circumstances.
From the Paper "In the early years, the mother's failures are relatively innocent. She fails to provide a sense of safety for the infant mainly because she has read in books that it is best to make a feeding schedule. She sends her baby away to a baby-sitter or to her relatives not for lack of love and compassion, but for lack of the financial ability to both provide full-time care and financial support. No one can honestly blame her for her failures in these areas, despite the fact that they no doubt have long-term negative effects on Emily. However, her failures become more severe as her child ages. For example, she pays attention to Emily's welfare when she is with a baby-sitter, but ignores the signs that the nursery school is a very bad place. If she had attempted to do so, she may have been able to find a better school, or a baby-sitter that was better than the school. However, she neglects her own instincts (which she admits to having at the time) regarding the school just to make life easier on herself."
This paper explores literature about the relationship between mothers and daughters, especially in Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" and TillieOlsen's "I Stand Here Ironing".
Abstract This paper explains that the way mothers pass down feminine values to their daughters often causes conflict, for both persons. The author points out that the mothers in the two stories, "I Stand Here Ironing" by TillieOlsen and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates, live under differing circumstances with dissimilar relationships with their daughters; however, both mothers, inadvertently or not, have favored one child with more attention and nurturing than the other child. The paper concludes, from the literature, that enjoying the complete love of a mother and at the same time maintaining complete autonomy is a very delicate and intense challenge because most women continue to identify strongly with their mothers, even after they themselves become adults. The paper includes several quotations.
From the Paper "There are many books and novels published regarding the unusual dynamics between mothers and daughters. Amy Tan's novel, "The Joy Luck Club", addresses her issues with her mother's demanding and controlling ways and Tan's inability to ever live up to her mother's expectations, no matter how brilliantly she tries. There are currently young adult novels on the library shelves to help adolescent girls develop a healthier relationship with their mothers. It is interesting how many women have issues with their mothers."
Tags: values, conflict, autonomy, dishonesty, communication
Abstract This paper explains that "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "I Stand Here Ironing" by TillieOlsen, are both stories about a relationship between a mother and her daughter and both emphasize the environment and its effect on the character. The paper further points out that the women in these stories are separated from men, which creates a tension between themselves and their neighbors. In addition, the paper relates that both these stories focus on the immediate world of the main characters and yet comment on the situation for others in this class. The women share a certain isolation from the world and also face similar concerns about their daughters. .
From the Paper "The setting for "Everyday Use" is such that the act of quilting becomes a way of remembering, a way of recalling the past and memorializing it in the quilt. Indeed, pieces of the past are part of each quilt in the form of such things as "pieces of Grandpa Jattell's Paisley shirts." Three generations of women live in this house together and share enjoyment of the quilts. In "I Stand Here Ironing," the setting is the enclosed world of this woman and her child. The outside world may be represented by employers, the woman downstairs, or the children Emily interacts with at school."
Tags: isolation, generations, quilting, working-class, role
Abstract Five short stories are discussed: "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, "A&P" by John Updike, "I Stand Here Ironing" by TillieOlsen, "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner, and "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence. Each story is used to demonstrate the use of either character, theme, plot or setting in the development of meaning.
From the Paper "PLOT - "THE STORY OF AN HOUR"
"The plot in this story revolves around the death of the husband, which of course makes the story possible, but at the heart of it is the woman and her feeling of freedom that she feels when she finds out her husband is dead. She feels free, and even in this very short story, Chopin makes us understand why with a few simple lines, ?And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not.? That is really the plot briefly -- the woman wanted more. We learn the two character's names in the story, but they, and the other minor characters do not matter, this is truly a short story with one theme, freedom, and is totally plot driven."
Tags: plot, theme, character, setting, Updike, Chopin, Faulkner, Olsen, Lawrence
Compares treatment and role of women in: William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily", Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" and TillieOlsen's "Here I Stand Ironing".
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 1 source, 1993, $ 31.95
From the Paper "Societal attitudes toward women are characterized by writers of fiction through the depiction of characters and the way those characters interact with the milieu in which they are found. The plight of women in American society can be seen as the subject of the stories "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, and "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen.
The women in these stories are separated from men, and the mere fact that they are separated creates a tension between themselves and their neighbors. The people of the town look at Emily in the Faulkner story as a person who is not a complete human being. At the same time, her social position requires a certain sort of match to satisfy the town, and Homer Barron does not fit the bill: "Of course a Grierson would not think ..."
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the short story "I Stand Here Ironing," by Tillie Olson. Specifically, the paper analyzes how the story relates to the subject of women, especially poor women. Societies have always oppressed their weakest members, and women have always been perceived as the "weaker" sex. Olsen illustrates the suffering of poor women as they attempt to live a decent live and raise their children with dignity while making sure they can better themselves and live a more rewarding life.
From the Paper "Women have continually been oppressed in society, and this oppression is often bemoaned in literature, in drama, and in poetry. It is not a new or unique theme. Olsen can write about female oppression so effectively because she has experienced it first-hand, and "I Stand Here Ironing" is probably one of her best and most studied pieces that show what poor women face in the ghettos of America. Her story specifically demonstrates how women had to live during the Great Depression in the 1930s, when jobs were scarce."
Tags: women, society, female, feminism, depression, work
Abstract The short story "I Stand Here Ironing," by TillieOlsen, reveals - as Chodorow argues - that maternal care is the primary shaper of children's psychological identity in their early youth.
Abstract The paper examines two short stories, "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olson, where both viewpoint characters are the mothers of now-grown daughters who realize truths about their daughters they never saw before. The paper explains that "I Stand Here Ironing" is written in a more mainstream way, without ethnic or regional colloquialisms, while "Everyday Use" reflects, in terms of content as well as style, the distinctiveness of African- American culture. The paper analyzes both stories in terms of style and content and demonstrates the similarities of many of the key themes and realizations of the mothers within these stories.
From the Paper "In "Everyday Use", Mama is the mother of Dee, who is flashy, outspoken, confident and successful, and Maggie, who is shyer and mush less confident, but who has survived a fire and has quiet inner strength her mother has not always seen. In "I Stand Here Ironing", Emily's unnamed mother, who is ironing clothes throughout the whole story, recollects to herself how someone, perhaps a teacher or counselor from Emily's school, had once wanted to talk to her, a poor working single parent, about Emily's needing help. Then, later, the mother recalls, Emily showed a surprising gift for comedy."
