In her short story "I Stand Here Ironing," Tillie Olsen explores the ways in which parents' choices contribute to their children's coming of age, or lack thereof, in several ways. Her story is just below a bulleted list of what not to do when raising a child, with a full epilogue on what happens when you don't follow that list. The play says a lot about mother-daughter relationships and continually alludes to the ways in which such relationships can be severely damaged, using clear examples over and over again throughout the text. Throughout the story, Olsen provides example after example told firsthand by a mother who fell victim to the consequences of her own mistakes, caused by the most unfortunate circumstances. The goal of Olsen's story is to illustrate to his audience of primarily parents the harmful effects that some parenting choices can bring by providing and explaining several examples of these choices, including working too often, not being attentive enough, and neglecting children. basic needs of their children. need for emotional connection. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Near the beginning of the story, Olsen describes through his narrator the sound of a child's haunting words still ever-present in the ears of the emotionally detached mother from whom the story is taken. "'Can't you go some other time, Mom, like tomorrow?' he would ask. “Are you just going to be gone for a little while?” Do you promise?'” (3) This is where the reader first glimpses Emily's internal struggle. These are not just the words of a typical child who misses his mother. It is clear that there is some problem deeper underlying issue going on with Emily due to her mother's frequent absence This entity is reinforced as the mother recounts her daughter's next words when she comes home to find her wide awake and scared in the middle of the night “It wasn't just a little while," the young girl announced so boldly. “I didn't cry. I called you three times, only three times, and then I ran down to open the door so you could come sooner” (Olsen 3) The mother in the story works long hours and is constantly away from her young daughter and, too often, the girl is left at home alone with no supervision, no babysitter, no comforter...
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