I Stand Here Ironing

Throughout the whole story I felt really sorry for Emily. She was the first child of five. Her mother was only nineteen when she had her, and became a single mother before she was one. I think her mother had a lot of pressure on her to be a good mother and at the same time have to provide for her daughter and herself. I think that it was really hard for her and she regrets having to send her away. When she got married and added to the family, it was especially hard for Emily. “Susan, the second child, Susan, golden- and curly-haired and chubby, quick and articulate and assured, everything in appearance and manner Emily was not;” Emily was of course treated totally differently when Susan was born. I think that her mother was not sure yet how to raise two children at once. Her mother blames herself for not being as good as a mother to Emily, like she was to her other children. She didn’t purposely try to treat them so differently, I think she was just too young and did what she thought was best for Emily.