I STAND HERE IRONING2 (1).pptx

7/27/2019 I STAND HERE IRONING2 (1).pptx

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PREPARED BY:SITI NAJWA BINTI BAHARIMSITI SYAHRUN NURUL AIN BINTI MISAN


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~ AUTHOR ~

Tillie Lerner Olsen (January 14, 1912 January 1, 2007)

An American writer associated with the political turmoil of the 1930s and the first

generation of American feminists

Olsen was born to RussianJewish immigrants in Wahoo, Nebraska and moved to

Omaha while a young child.

Over the years Olsen worked as a waitress, domestic worker, and meat trimmer.

In the 1930s she joined the American Communist party.

She later moved to San Francisco, California, where in 1936 she met and lived with

Jack Olsen, who was an organizer and a longshoreman.

She married Jack in 1944, on the eve of his departure for service in World War II .

"I Stand Here Ironing" is the first and shortest story in the collection, about a

woman who is grieving about her daughter's life and about the circumstances that

shaped her own mothering.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewishhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo,_Nebraskahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraskahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_USAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Stand_Here_Ironinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Stand_Here_Ironinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_USAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraskahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo,_Nebraskahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewishhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States


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~ SUMMARY ~

In this story the main character is a mother who is thinking about her eldest

girl who named Emily. The mother who is from middle class left to work and

take care of her children. Because of Emilys father had died when she was

one she had to work and give her a less care and now shes sorrow about it.

There were so many reasons that she couldnt care about her such as she was

only nineteen when she was born and her poverty. Eventually she had forced

to leave her with her fathers family until she reaches 2 years. Then the

mother left her at nursery school. After all the mother gave a birth and Emily

had a sister named Susan. Like this, Emily couldnt catch her attention at all

and the mother thinking all about her past when she is ironing the girls dress.

Because of carelessness Emily never liked school, liked pets. Now the mother

knows how her girl is valuable and how she loves her.


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~ SETTING ~

The story moves through a fairly long timeframe

it is set in the early 1950s, it looks back to the 1930s (the time of the Great

Depression), and the 1940s (the time of World War 2).

The story is set in the working class home of the narrator, who comments that

when her first child was born, they "were poor and could not afford for her the soil of

easy growth."


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~ CHARACTER & CHARACTER TRAITS ~

1) Emily

A shy nineteen-year old girl.

She is the oldest of five children. Emily had a very difficult childhood, but has

recently developed a talent for comedic acting.

She is cynical about life, and the world, despite her youth. She believes the atomic

bomb will soon destroy everything; so there is no point in caring about anything.

2) Emily's mother

A mother who is filled with regrets and worries about her daughter.

She worked hard to support her family and take care of them, but in retrospect she

realizes there are many things she would have done differently if she could.


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3) Emily's father

deserted the family so as not to "share poverty with them" less than one year

after Emily's birth.

4) Emily's stepfather

called away to fight in WWII.

5) Susan

the second child.

golden and curly haired, chubby, quick, articulate and sure.

By the time Susan was born, her mother had remarried and gained enough

experience to show more affection than when Emily was born.


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~ PLOT ~

Point of view:

The story is told from a mother's first person point of view.

The narrator, a now remarried mother of several children, remembers the way she

parented her first child, Emily.

Her thoughts, and the story, are about what she would have done differently while

parenting Emily if she had been more experienced and had better options.

It is one of Olsen's most anthologized works.


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INITIAL SITUATION

While ironing, a mother thinks about her daughter..

A counsellor or teacher asks the narrator for some insights into her daughter. This question

prompts the narrator to reflect on her daughter's life.

CONFLICT

The mother struggles to make ends meet when her daughter is born.

The narrator thinks back to the circumstances of Emily's birth. The narrator was nineteen at the

time, and the father had left them. The narrator sought work while leaving Emily in the hands of

not-so-caring babysitters.

COMPLICATION

The narrator remarries, but Emily still has trouble fitting in.

The narrator's remarriage brings more stability (and more children) into their lives, but Emily

continues to be plagued with health problems and has trouble keeping up in school.

CLIMAX

As a teenager, Emily reveals a talent for comedy.

On a whim, Emily puts on a comedy act for her high school talent show, and the audience loves it.

All of a sudden, it seems as if Emily is getting all the attention she had never received as a child.


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SUSPENSE

Emily interrupts the narrator while she is thinking.

At this point, the narrator's reflections are interrupted by Emily herself, who has

returned home. Emily's flippant attitude toward her education contrasts with thepromise she displays as a performer.

DENOUEMENT

Emily goes to bed, while the narrator continues to iron.

The narrator continues her ironing, as well as her reflections about her daughter.

The fact that there seems to be no progress in the narrator's thoughts andactions suggests that she hasn't come to any conclusions about her daughter'slife.

CONCLUSION

The narrator asks the imaginary person she's having a conversation with to helpEmily.

This ending is pretty inconclusive: the narrator still hasn't resolved her conflictingfeelings about Emily. She isn't sure if Emily will ever fulfill her promise, or if shewill let her talent go to waste. She ends her imaginary conversation with Emily'steacher by asking the teacher to help Emily realize her potential.
http://www.shmoop.com/i-stand-here-ironing/trivia.html


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~ THEMES ~

1) WOMEN AND FEMININITY

"I Stand Here Ironing" looks at the themes of women and femininity through the

lens of a mother-daughter relationship. Struggling to make ends meet during the

Great Depression, the narrator works long hours and is unable to care for her

daughter. The narrator is a single, working mother at a time when a more traditional,

middle-class, stay-at-home mom was the norm in mainstream American society.

Olsen's story takes us inside the mind of the narrator as she juggles the role of mother

and breadwinner. The story also gives us a sense of the challenges faced by her

daughter, who comes of age in a society that values a Shirley Temple model of

girlhood and adolescent femininity. Although the mother-daughter relationship in

Olsen's story doesn't fit the mainstream stereotype, it reveals a strong bond; their

love for each other is palpable as they share their struggles.


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2) POVERTY

Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing" is an intimate look at life from the

perspective of the working class during the Great Depression. It begins in a

time before the great work projects and social relief efforts of Franklin D.

Roosevelt's administration, when it was difficult for someone with no

education to find work let alone a woman. Families such as the narrator's

fall apart under the strain of immense poverty. Moving frequently as their

parents seek work, the children attend crowded schools with uninspiring

teachers. Charitable institutions such as clinics and hospitals are woefully

inadequate. Is the American Dream, the dream of prosperity and material

security, out of reach for the working class? The story suggests that perhaps

the American Dream needs to be re-imagined to open more opportunities to

people regardless of gender or class.
http://www.shmoop.com/great-depression/http://www.shmoop.com/fdr-new-deal/http://www.shmoop.com/fdr-new-deal/http://www.shmoop.com/great-depression/


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3) POWER

Olsen's story reveals a deeply skeptical attitude toward those who hold

positions of power, whether they be the wealthy, the government, or

institutions such as public hospitals and schools. Those in power are blind

to the needs of the working class. Charity, it seems, is only an excuse not

to give the working class real opportunities (such as a livable wage) to

improve their own lives.

The skepticism is also informed by a post-World War II perspective that

has witnessed the destructive power ofthe atomic bomb: political power

is associated with death. The story attempts to make visible the real lives

of the working class, from their own perspective.
http://www.shmoop.com/wwii/science-technology.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/wwii/science-technology.html


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~ LITERARY DEVICES ~SYMBOLS

The Iron

The iron represents the chores and responsibilities that prevented the narratorfrom engaging with Emilys life more profoundly. As the storys title suggests, the

narrator is constantly embroiled in the duties she must perform to effectively care forher family. This is ironic because it is these duties that drew her away from Emily andlessened the quality of her care.

The repetitive motion of the iron moving back and forth across the surface of theironing board mimics the narrators thought processes as she moves back and forthover her life as a mother, attempting to identify the source of Emilys currentdifficulties. The distance the narrator feels from Emily is embodied in this simple act

of ironing. Although Emilys welfare is the central concern of the story, the narrator ismore actively engaged in unwrinkling her daughters dress than in the life of theyoung woman who will wear it. The narrators final wish is that Emily will have astrong sense of self-worth and believe that she is more than the dress that is helplessbefore the iron. This comment suggests that the narrator hopes Emily will be able totranscend the narrators mistakes, rather than succumb to the circumstances of herbirth.


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Theory of Literary Criticism

Sosial Criticism (Marxism)

A sociological approach to literature that viewed works of literature or art

as the products of historical forces that can be analyzed by looking at the

material condition in which they were formed.


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Material Circumstance

The economic condition underlying the society. Tounderstand social events, one must have a grasp ofthe material circumstances and the historicalsituation in which they occur.

Status of economic: World of the depression. I was nineteen. It was the pre-relief, pre WPA world

of depression. I would start running as soon as I gotoff the streetcar, running up the stairs, the place

smelling sour and awake or sleep to startle awake,when she saw me she would break into a cloggedweeping that could not be comforted, a weeping Ican hear yet.


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Result of the economic status force the mother toleave her daughter and struggle to find the worksince her husband left her. His abandonmentcreated the economic situation in Emilys life whichled her mother to send her away to so manydifferent care takers.

I had to leave her daytimes with the womandownstairs to whom she was no miracle at all, for Iworked or looked for work and for Emilys father,who could no longer endure (he wrote in his

goodbye note) sharing want with us.

I was terrible, growing years. War years. I do notremember them well. I was working, there were foursmaller ones now, there was not time for her


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Working class women like Emilys mother

walk an exceptionally thin line when

attempting to conform to societal norms of

good motherhood while earning enough

money to support her children.

It took a long time to raise the money for

her fare back. Then she got chicken pox

and I had to wait longer


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The writer emphasize the poor healthcare and lack of attention that felt by

Emily make the mother regret it so much.

I used to try to hold and love her aftershe come back, but her body would stay

stiff, and after a while shes push away.She ate little. Food sickened her, and Ithink much of life too

Mostly Emily had asthma, and herbreathing, harsh and labored, would fillthe house with a curiously tranquil sound


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The writer also emphasize on poor education thathad been provided by the mother due to theeconomic status that time . She is not working and

had a new baby.

School was a worry to her. She was not glib orquick in a world where glibness and quicknesswere easily confused with ability to learn. To heroverworked and exasperated teachers she was an

over-conscientious slow learner who kept tryingto catch up and was absent entirely to often

I let her be absent, though sometimes the illnesswas imaginary. How different from my nowstricness about attendance with the others. Iwasnt working. We had a new baby, I was homeanyhow. Sometimes, after Susan grew old enough. Iwould keep her home from school, too, to havethem all together.


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Rich become richer and poor become poorer.

I see pictures on the society page of sleek young women planning

affairs to raise money for it, or dancing at the affairs, or

decorating Easter Eggs or filling Christmas stockings for the

children.

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I STAND HERE IRONING2 (1).pptx