"I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen
This story demonstrates a mother- daughter relationship, well one could say lack or relationship. Emily went through a rough childhood. Her mom had her at a young age, her father left them and in order to survive, her mom had to go to work, meaning she was left with her father's family to take care of her. At point in the story, her mother even mentions how Emily did not want to be touched by her. I feel as if for a while, Emily definitely did resent her mom for all that she put her through. However, as she got older, she came to understand certain situations and that is when she started focusing more on herself. She let her mother focus more on the others, while she was being herself and focusing on herself. Her mother also always kept referring to her beauty and how lovely she was... I kind of did not completely get what the beauty had to do with anything else.
Yes, the relationship between the mother and Emily is often strained. The issue of beauty comes up in the mother's description of Emily as a child, then in comparison to children at school, and later in comparison, or contrast to Susan. Is Emily perceive and does she consider herself pretty? What type of beauty, does the mother say, society recognizes and Emily lacks?
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