Loss of Innocence

I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen is a simple story of a mother’s regret for neglecting to always be there for her daughter. Reading this made me wonder about how Emily must have felt. AS the oldest sibling she had to grow up the fastest so as to help out her mother and watch the other children. Emily had to give up part of her childhood to her younger sister Susan. While she was a toddler she received a lot of love from her parents, but eventually they had no time for her and had to send her away to a sort of boarding school. I think it’s ironic that even though we share the same name, our situations are polar opposites. She had to abandon her childhood at a young age in order to help care for her younger siblings while I, being the youngest (well, former youngest), always had someone taking care of me.

I am not the youngest anymore but I was the baby of the family for the longest time so I almost always got my way. On the other hand Emily from the story had to quickly grow up and sacrifice her innocence. Her mother almost never had time for her so she stopped hoping. She stopped expecting to receive love and affection from her mother. I guess that’s why the tone of the story is kind of guilty and regretful. The mother wanted to provide all the care that her daughter needed but there just wasn’t enough time with the housework and other kids. This may sound contradicting, but although I was the youngest in the family for so long, I can somewhat relate to Emily. Even though my baby sister was born thirteen years after me, I had these two little cousins that I had to take care of. I lived with about twelve people in my house, so I had to take care of my little cousins because all the adults were busy at work or cooking dinner or on the phone. But I don’t think it was quite the same, although I had to babysit my cousins all the time my parents always made time for me. I was still their baby, but for the fictional Emily, her mother just didn’t have enough time.

I touched on it earlier but I didn’t fully try and explain it. I think that in the story Emily had o knowingly give up her innocence. When Emily had to go to her father’s family’s house I think is the turning point for Emily. That where Emily changes. She realizes that being a single mother is hard and that she needs to grow up to help her mother.

Welp. That’s all I have for today. Thank you for reading!

-Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen