WEEK 2, QUESTION #4

The narrator in "I stand Here Ironing" is a reliable narrator. The reason is because she provides her readers with real life facts and information about the life of herself and her daughter Emily. I am not a mother, so I really cannot relate, but despite of that I can absolutely able to understand what is happening in the narration and how the mother is feeling about her past. When Emily was a little girl, it seems like her mother always had a reason to leaver her. In addition, the narrator states on page 287, "I had to work her first six years when there was work, or sent her home and to his relatives." I intrepret that the mother admits about the fact that she was not there for Emily and that her wisdom came too late. Also, going along with making excuses for herself by talking about how she was poor, young, distracted mother, who had to work and had to do what she did. There should be no excuse to bahave the way she did to Emily. Throughout her childhood, Emily's only desire was for her mom to be present, and when the mom would leave, she would anxiously wait for her return. Emily's love was strong toward her mother and she longed for tenderness. As Emily was growing up , she did not receive enough love, kindness and attention, therefore there was a reason for how she was acting toward her mother. One of good examples in the narration located in paragraph 25 is, "Can I get you something? And the answer is always the same: 'No, I'm all right, go back to sleep, Mother.' " The mother was young, and did not realize that she did not show enough affection toward her daughter, and as young children, they remember that and are effected by it for as long as they live.



The reason I believe that the narrator shares the parts of the story that she does and not the others was to express to us readers that we live our life and during that time we do not realize that we can either make a negative impact upon someone's life or positive. Olsen takes us back to her past, provides us with facts by clearly showing the life of Emily and how she was impacted during her childhood.The parts of the story that she does provide us with definetely can change our life. As mother's and future mother's to be, we need to make sure that we never make a the mistake that Tillie Olsen did with her daughter Emily.