I Stand Here Ironing

The character's action I chose to analyze in this Essay is Emily's mom from "I Stand Here Ironing." In the story Emily's Mom struggles a good amount in raising Emily. Many of her actions are based on doing what she has to do to survive and what is customary during the time of the Great Depression. Her actions include when she has no money and has to have Emily stay with her grandparents, when she has to work so she has to put Emily in a daycare and convalescent school where they don't care for the children, and how she does not show Emily much psychical affection during her lifetime.

In the very beginning of Emily's life she spent most of her time in the care of others because her mother had to do what she needed to survive at the time. When

When Emily would call for her mother to come into her room to comfort her after a nightmare her mother wouldn't come. She would just tell Emily she needed to go back to sleep and it wasn't that big of a deal. In the story her mother does not ever verbally express to Emily that she loves her. A neighbor of theirs says Emily's mother should smile at Emily more when she looks at Emily. The statement causes Emily's mother has the thought, "What was in my face when I looked at her? I loved her. There were all the acts of love." (Olsen 17) This shows that Emily's mother does love her, but is unaware of how she is not expressing that to Emily. Also I feel like it shows that she is doing or thinks she is doing all the acts for Emily out of love. Even though many people would not think of the acts in that way in todays time. I think how love is expressed to Emily from her mother is because of the time they were in as well as her mother being very busy raising other children in the later in the story and working in the beginning. During the time of the Great Depression it was not common for parents to be overly affectionate to their children because they did not know how much affection from a parent effects the