Week 2 Question #4
4. Discuss point of view in "I Stand Here Ironing". Do you think the writer is a reliable narrator? Why/why not? Why do you think the narrator shares the "parts" of the story she does but not others?
In the course handout which defines literary terms, narrator is defined as “an entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. In the story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen the writer is the narrator. I think that the writer is a reliable narrator because the story is a self examination of herself as a parent. The writer is telling the reader what she remembers of her life during the years she was rearing her children. They are her memories and it is her story to tell. I do not think that she intentionally skips any “parts” of the story. As she is ironing she is reminded of times in the past when she was ironing when the kids were young. The story is a flood of memories, one linked to the next by symbolism not chronologically. The “parts” she does share show many painful decisions she has had to make as a mother. Any skipped “parts” I think would be skipped because the pain of those memories is too much for her to bear. She is burdened with guilt wondering if she was a good enough mother. Her standing ironing symbolizes the gloom she must feel that her life has not changed much over the years; she was ironing when the baby was little and is still ironing now when the child has grown to be a young adult. It also symbolizes that she cannot iron out the problems in her life.
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Hi Sue thanks for the comment on my blog last week. I enjoyed your interpretation of "I stand Here Ironing". I too believe the narrator is contemplating her value as a mother as she is ironing. She speaks of the difficulties of the depression erra. Difficulties many are now facing although our media and government are quick to call it a recession. She speaks of her daughter growing up in a time when the gifts she brings to this world are outshined by others gifts. Gift appreciation in this world is like a pendulum. Beauty one day is tall and dark. Beauty on another day is blond and volumptuous. Nothing is permanent. I also believe the iron is a metaphor for the way Emily's gifts like her gift of comedy is forged through struggle and heat. Often great writers and poets are refined during dark, difficult, and heat stricken times.
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