I Stand Here Ironing

Don Sampo
James Hepworth
English 150
January 27, 2009
Tillie Olsen

I Stand Here Ironing

The story is about Tillie’s struggle to survive in the early 1900’s. Tillie Olsen was from Russian immigrants that fled their homeland to escape persecution. She makes motions with her ironing like a release of some agony she went through in her life. She has four children, and her first husband deserts her. She marries another man and has three more children. There were many hard times and the family was very poor. She had to raise four children that were so demanding and difficult to raise.
The children that are mentioned are Emily, Susan, and Ronnie. The fourth child was from the first marriage. Emily is one the main character she speaks about. Emily had a very strong attachment to her mom. She wasn’t able to see her as much as she wanted and she would cry for hours.
Tillie would reassure Emily that everything was fine. She would make up excuses to not go to school. She didn’t want to leave her mom. Emily stopped eating; even the mere sight of food turned her stomach. The food was bad, and she did not feel safe eating it. There was a boy she cared for in school, but he liked someone else.
Emily had asthma, and her breathing sounded terrible. She was frail and sickly compared to her sister Susan. There were hurts and needs that Emily and Susan had during those growing years. Susan would break some her sister’s belongings. The struggle during those years of siblings was also taking its toll on the rest of the family.
Emily helped with being a mother, housekeeper, and a shopper. She finally realized she could enter a contest at school about comedy and won. She was asked to other schools to perform. She was finally noticed at school. Emily had her struggles and frustrations in life, but she managed to make it through after all. Emily means so much more to Tillie than just a piece of clothing on an ironing board. This is a sad story, but Tillie Olsen is an amazing woman. A human can survive.