Ironing as setting and metaphor

The image of ironing serves two purposes in “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen. It is both the setting of the story and a metaphor for the narrator’s struggle to straighten out her understanding of her troubled daughter. The ironing continues throughout the story without a clear conclusion about the fate of the daughter.

From the context provided by the narrator (288), the setting is a few years after World War II in a home where the mother is ironing late at night. The ironing gives the mother a chance to review the entire 19 years of her daughter’s life. The need for reflection has been precipitated by a teacher or counselor who wants to help (283) the daughter, Emily. The fact that the narrator is ironing also informs the reader that the mother works long hours as she must do this chore after the family has gone to bed.

Ironing as the metaphor of the mother’s struggle is reflected in key quotes as the reader is constantly reminded of the ironing task. For example, the narrator says, “… and what you ask me moves me tormented back and forth with the iron.” (283) Then as the mother can not seem to determine what harm has been done or not to the daughter, the daughter demands, “Aren’t you ever going to finish the ironing?” (288) Again at the end of the story, the narrator pleads, “She is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron,” (289) suggesting that Emily does not have to give in to the powerful forces that have shaped her life.

Continuing the iron analogy, it seems the consequences that Emily experienced cannot be “straightened” out like an iron can press out the wrinkles in clothes. It is not possible for a person to be returned to a state of being “un-wrinkled” once serious problems have been experienced. The troubled person Emily has become is a direct result of the decisions that her mother and others made when Emily was growing up. The mother surprisingly is not willing to take responsibility for her role in the creation of Emily. For instance the mother says, “I will never total it all.” (289) Emily can not undo what has happened and must live with the decisions of others and the consequences. Up to this point, Emily’s adaptation uses humor (288) and goodness (284) showing that she is strong; some might even say “made of iron.”

The Storm By:Kate Chopin

I believe this story is about happiness within a family, but the wife is unfaithful to her family. With the storm rolling in, Babinot and Bibi and stuck at Friedheimer's store. Babinot and Bibi think about their wife/mother the whole time they were at the store. They seem to be a happy family, then Alcee came up riding upon a horse. Alcee has a great marriage with his wife, Clarisse. When Alcee came up to the house, and saw that Calixta was home alone, he thought that he wanted to kiss her. Bobinot and Bibi come home to a happy wife or so it seems with Alcee writing a letter to his wife saying that he misses her. In this case, I believe they stayed together because of Bibi, because in most situations that is the case. Nowdays, divorce is a lot more common then it used to be, it was really bad to get a divorce years ago. Knowing that Calixta and Alcee commited adultery and didn't tell their spouse and acted like nothing was wrong, made me think of how many people have done that. I guess everyone has their secrets whether they are married or not.

A Good Man is Hard to Find - Blog 4

When I first started reading this story, the grandmother seemed arrogant, selfish, controlling and kind of greedy. As I read further, little glimpses of her "caring" and "concern" came out (though sometimes unconventionally). She was concerned about her cat, "She didn't intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself." (354). Here she was concerned about the cat. When they came across Red Sammy at the restaurant, he was bemoaning the fact that he had just given these fellows gas, and he rehortically asked "Why did I do that?" (357) and the grandmother answered "Because you're a good man!" (357). All in all though the grandmothers times of selfishness far outweighed her few moments of caring.

I kind of felt bad for Bailey in this story. Here he was generous enough to have his mother live with his family, and it seems like she isn't very grateful. Instead she wants to control everything, with her comfort and wishes met first.

The scene of the accident wasn't funny, but I found myself chuckling. The grandma brings up a house that everyone wants to see, forgetting that the house is in Tennessee, not Georgia. Then the cat that Grandma brought along (that she knows her son wouldn't want with them) ends up causing an accident. "As soon as the children saw they could move their arms and legs, they scrambled out of the car shouting "We've had an ACCIDENT!" The grandmother was curled up under the dashboard, hoping she was injured so that Bailey's wrath would not come down on her all at once." (359). I don't blame her!

After that I didn't laugh anymore though. The men who came along and "helped" after the accident ended up shooting them all. And through reading this story, I would say it was the grandmothers fault. She seemed like a greedy controlling person who demanded to get her way. From the way the story reads, she had been like that her whole life, and I think the Misfit recognized that. Here the grandmother was trying to convince the Misfit he was good, to save her own skin, "You've got good blood! I know you wouldn't shoot a lady I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady. I'll give you all the money I've got!" (364) Not one word about her family, or trying to save them. When she was calling for her "Baily boy!" (362) I think that her intentions were not to see if he was alright, it was for him to come protect her.

I think that part of the irony in this story is that the grandmother was actually right - though for selfish reasons. In the beginning, she didn't want to go to Florida. She wanted to go to Tennessee, and tried to convince her son to take them there. But he didn't listen and the next day they started out for Florida. In the end it was the grandmothers selfish actions and lie/exaggerations that cost them all their lives.

I Stand Here Ironing

I think that when the women irons she thinks about thing in her life like her daughter. I think that she thinks that she has done something wrong and thats why her daughter is the way she is. The women talkes about that her daughter was beautiful the day she came outand that everything was okay with her until she had to leave her places or even at home alone. One day when she camehome the door was wideopen and the clock was on the floor and she was saying that she called and called and the time kept going by slowly. ever since then her daughter has not been the same. People were telling her about a place where she could send her and she could get the help that she needed. The only time that she was happy was when she was on stage telling jokes and everyone was laughing at them.

The Storm

The storm is a very interesting story it tells about two married couples who both have children and how they commit adultrey. A storm rolles in and a woman named Calixta is at home sewing while her husband and son are at the store. An old friend comes in on horseback and stayes until the storm goes away. His name is Alcee. Calixta is all worried about her familt and Alcee tries to comfort her. He holds her in his arms and thinks to himself how he wants to kiss her lips. Alcee says " Do you remember- in Assumption, Calixta." (pg.257) He talkes about how they kissed and kissed. Alcee talked about how she looked and how she felt it. I think that the two were acting as thou they were young adults again, and I think that they are both not happy with their marriages. I also think that the sound of the storm made them do what they did. Toward the end Alcee wrote a letter to his wife and told her if she needed to stay away longer that it was alright with him. I believe he did that for a reason so maybe he could be with Calixta a couple of more times if they got the chance.

Kate Chopin's "The Storm"

This is a story of betrayal and happiness. During the storm Bibi and Bobinot seem devoted to the mother and wife (Calixta) of this story. They think of her when they are trapped in the store reassuring eachother that she is fine in the house, "She'll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin' her this evenin"(pg. 256). Calixta and Bobinot, and also Alcee and Clarisse both seem to be having good marriages. Alcee and Calixta seem not to think they have done anything wrong in the house after they both committed adultery. Bobinot comes home to a seemingly joyful wife, and Alcee writes to his wife expressing how he misses her. There was something deeper though. Having marriage hold people together does not account for everything. Many times people stay together just for children, and not really having any true love towards eachother. There may be love on the outside, but really on the inside it is not with reailty. Back than, it was not common for people to get divorced even if they did not love eachother. I believe that there was not true love with either of the marriages. Calixta's and Alcee's fling was not planned, just something spur-of the moment on account of the storm. Both Calixta and Alcee continued on with their lives and their spouses as if nothing had even happened. Calixta appeared exstatic as they came in saying, "Oh, Bobinot! You back! My! but I was uneasy. W'ere you been during the rain? An' Bibi? he ain't wet? he ain't hurt?" (pg 258). Calixta and Alcee both knew of their wrongdoing but did not address it. There are certain things in life that will not be addressed and that wil always remain a secret.

-Cassandra Lee Mikel

A & P

In this story, a young man is a grocery clerk who faces the everyday reality of having a manger that many people do not like. He talks to himself alot through out the story about the little things that go on that make him mad. This ranges from when he and his co-worker were listening to music while getting the store ready to be opened. The manager yells at them to shut it off and open the store up. There is another part in which he talks about his co-work being 21 and already have 2 kids. He mentions that this is "his" job and will preobably strive towards being promoted withing the store, which is one more step to permanence. Then the girls in the bikini's came in and he envisioned them having fun together, then the manager put the stop to that thought by scolding them on their attire. This is was really set him off and deciding to quit only to realize that his dreams of being with Amy Smart's character were short lived.

I feel that this happens to many people who are in the same job position and at the age he is. It is almost like the person thinks that there is more out there for them and that if they stay in their same job position that they will never be able to obatin their dreams. Even though it was hard to leave the job, I feel as if it was his chance to go out into the world and strive for his dreams rather than wondering "what if". This can reflected in someone who maybe didn't go to school and wants to go and to try and make something even more with their own life. They take a chance and go back to school and see what happens. You never know unless you try even if at the time it may seem like a bad idea and not feel right.

"I Stand Here Ironing"

In this story it is the everyday task that helps the woman reflect on her daughters life and how she and her life circumstances affected it. There has obviously been a call from the school concerning the daughter and the mother has no idea how to go about explaining everything to the school so she reflects silently to herself as she "stands here ironing."
In today's world I am sure there is a lot of this that occurs. People who live in poverty or other stressful situations often do not want to let people know what has occured in their lives, or they have no idea where to begin. I know there are many things in my past I am not comfortable talking about or that I am not proud of, but it was the circumstances thrown at me by life and I survived and have worked my way around them in my head. The mother in the story feels bad for what occurred with her daughter, but she couldn't do anything else so she has to live with it and try to help her daughter live with it.

The Yellow Wallpaper

The short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is very intriguing. I could tell early in the story that what the woman was suffering from was postpartum depression. The sad part is the way she was being "treated" for this condition. Because of the time that this story was set, the treatment for postpartum depression was the "rest cure", where she was brought to a remote location and not allowed contact with many others. She was also not allowed to work and was encouraged to sleep often. It is obvious as the story goes on that her depression and psychosis worsens probably due to this treatment. This was shown through her hate an obsession over the wallpaper in the room she spend so much of her time in. It starts out where she just doesn't like the color and the pattern of the wallpaper. It then slowly worsens until she believes there is a woman creeping behind the pattern, then finally results in her actually thinking that she is the woman from the pattern that has escaped from her awful patterned prison. I think that this story represents the power than men had over women at this time. The woman's husband makes her believe that she is getting better, even though she know that she is not. This sends her into the deep state of psychosis at the end.

"The Storm"

This story is a link to the idea that unusual circumstances make people behave in ways in which they may not normally behave. Calixta and Alcee seem to be happily married to their spouses but the passion of the storm brings out their unfulfilled passion for each other. The phrase about Calixta behaving as to her birthright lead you to believe that her and Alcee were possibly engaged at one time. I wonder what happened to end it. They obviously had attraction for each other as the were at Assumption together until Alcee left because he could not contain his attraction to Calixta. From the time the storm arrives until they enter the house Calixta worries about her son and husband. It is like the storm is a moment in time for Alcee and Calixta that they will never have again; it is okay with them it seems to never be together again as they have had this one day together.
I think everyone has had a moment like this. It may not relate to sex or relationships, but everyone has something that has been worth risking everything for at a specific moment to have whatever it is that they may never have again. I am not going to share what, but I think readers will understand and relate to my point.

"The Storm"

In the story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, Calixta is portrayed in two different ways. When we first meet her, she is at home waiting anxiously for her husband and son to return from the store. “She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine”. (256) She seems like a woman who is uptight and meticulous. Through Bibi and Bobinot’s conversation in the store, Bibi makes it sound like his mother is not capable of being alone through the storm. “Mama’ll be ‘fraid, yes,” (256) but Bobinot reassures him that she will be fine. I think he is more worried that she will be angry when they return from being in the storm. Again, she is portrayed as uptight after the storm when they are cleaning up to get home. “They prepared for the worst- the meeting with an over-scrupulous housewife”. (258)
She is portrayed much differently while she is with Alcee. “but she has lost nothing of her vivacity. Her blue eyes still retained their melting quality”. (256) I think she was someone he had known before and could see through who she was even after she married. As he was leaving, “she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud”. (258) I think she may have always been the person described by Alcee. Bobinot may have been the reason that she is who she became which to him was “an over-scrupulous housewife”. (258) I wonder what happened to their affair before they were married? I also wonder what he was doing at her house? It seems like her house is far from others and town. Did he come for any other reason?

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

There comes a time for talking and there comes a time when one just needs to keep their mouth shut. That is a lesson the grandmother did not seem to learn in her lifetime. She seemed to have a knack for telling stories; including fibbing about the secret panel in the old plantation house. The family would never have gone down that worn dirt road if she hadn't excited the children about the secret panel. Ultimately, I think that is what killed her. "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," ( O'Connor, 365). The misfit, the sociopath he may have been, seemed to know how the grandmother lived her life. He was able to sense her ability to exaggerate and her pure selfishness.

Not once, throughout the story, did I take notice to the grandmothers plea for her family. That's because there wasn't one. After examining the dialogue, I realized she was trying to save her own skin. " You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?" (361). This was followed by a similar plea " I know you wouldn't shoot a lady!" (364). What about the rest of her family who had their entire lives ahead of them? The woman had no regard for anybody but herself. Some how the misfit, through his own insanity, saw right through hers in the last moments of her life. The irony here is A Good Woman Is Hard to Find.

"I Stand Here Ironing"

In the story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, I feel the mother’s guilt for the precious time lost while raising Emily. I think that all mothers’ sometime in their lives have some regrets of time lost with their child or children. Throughout the story, the mother is reflecting on the times she had ignored Emily’s pleas for attention. There were a few lines in the story that stuck out at me. Emily didn’t want to go to school and would make up reasons for not going. One of them was “Mamma, we can’t go, there was a fire there last night”. (284) The story is written through the mother’s memories and is very sad to me. Another part of the book bothered me also when Emily yells for her mom but her mom responds with “You’re all right, darling, go to sleep, it’s just a dream”. (285)
I’m unclear as to who is asking for the help in understanding Emily at the opening of the story. Right away though, you can hear the guilt the mother still carries about Emily. “There is all that life that has happened outside of me, beyond me.” (283)
I’m glad this story was written from the mother’s point of view. I think it would have been a completely different story if Emily was the one reflecting.

The Yellow Wallpaper

I started reading "The Yellow Wallpaper" with mixed emotions after I had read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's little biography. In the biography it said, "Like most of Gilman's work, it [the story] makes a point - in this case, about the dangers of women's utter dependence on a male interpretation of their needs." (366) After I read the story, that quote didn't sit too well with me, because in the case of the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper, the "male interpretation" (366) was her physician who was also her husband (367) and her brother, who was also a physician. (367) It seems too broad to me to blame her troubles on the males - her husband and brother. Why was she choosing to have "utter dependence on a male interpretation of her needs?" Why not talk to a female and see what she had to say? I guess this story kind of frusterated me because this lady seems helpless, and gullible. Why couldn't she just have a mind of her own and, if it is so dangerous to be dependant on a male, not be dependent on the males? I realize independance was discouraged and frowned upon back then (this was written in 1892), but reading about the helplessness of this woman was frusterating and sad.

Also, her husband John frusterated me. "John is practical to the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of supersitition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures." (367) To me John seems very narrow-minded. If you look into the world, there are things you can't see (especially with the naked eye) but know are there. It also frusterated and apalled me that John laughed at his wife. "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." (366) The way I read this, John was not laughing with his wife, no, he was laughing at her. I don't think any husband should laugh at his wife; its rude and disrespectful. I think this might give us readers an idea of how John thought about his wife, and therefore treated her.

"John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. But I don't want to go there at all." (370, 371). That sounded like a threat to me. You would think a physician would not threaten his patient, but a husband threatening his wife? It doesn't sit well with me.

On a lighter note, I thought I noticed some irony in this story. "This bed will not move! I tried to lift and push it until I was lame, and then I got so angry I bit off a little piece at one corner - but it hurt my teeth." (377) Then one little paragraph later, she says, "I am getting angry enough to do something desperate." (377). Biting off the corner of the bed sounds like something desprate!

All in all, I didn't really like this story. The point of the story, to me, was postpartum depression is a very real, serious, dibilating mental issue and needs to have proper medical treatment, not that it is dangerous to be utterly dependant on men. (366)

It is dangerous to be utterly dependant on anyone.

A&P

When I started reading the story “A&P” I had to laugh because it reminded of having a discussion with some of my friends. This came right from the start when the writer is describing the three girls that came into the A&P. “In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits” (220). Other examples of this included how the girls were described in such detail. Another piece of this text that made me think of having a discussion with my buddies was when the author back tracks in his story to give us more information about a character. “The responsible married man finding his voice. I forgot to say he thinks he’s going to be manager some sunny day…” (221). My first impression of this story was that it was an actual event in the author’s life and after reading the author’s notes I found out that I was right. I can relate to his story because he is only a year older than me in his story (18). I really liked this story simply because of the conversational style that it was written. When Sammy quit his job, I had two thoughts. The first was, “Good job man! You really showed him!” but the second was, “What are you doing?” When Sammy first left the store, it seemed like he just wanted to follow the three girls. However, when he went outside and “they’re gone, of course” (pg. 224), he didn’t turn around to go back into the store. This showed me that he was truly unhappy with his job.

Journals

All journals below have been graded as "journal 1" (unless title indicates it was journal 2)

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman

I really identified with Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Gilman’s story deals with apart of mental illness that most people do not recognize immediately, namely that some forms of psychosis are triggered by something else. In Gilman’s and the narrator’s cases the trigger is post-partum depression. In my case, it was a reaction to a fairly common medication. Just like the protagonist in Gilman’s story, it took weeks before the severity of the mental illness was apparent to my family. Of course today unlike when the story was written, medications are available to help the patient but recovery still takes time.

The narrator’s diary in Gilman’s story shows how she slowly slips further into the mental illness and how ineffective her physician husband’s prescribed rest cure is. The narrator’s focus on the yellow wallpaper makes sense to me as her room had nothing else interesting for her mind to focus on. When your brain is becoming chemically imbalanced, you seem to know something is wrong but you are not sure what is causing the problem. Then you begin to focus on things in the environment that could be the cause of these strange thoughts. From the beginning of the story, the narrator is questioning reality. In the opening sentences she states, “Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it”(Gilman, line 5), referring to the opportunity to rent such a nice home for the summer.

The illogical thinking that is characteristic of psychosis is in evidence throughout the diary. For example, the narrator describes her trying to spin around fast enough to see if the creeping woman from the wallpaper is visible outside from all the windows at once (line 205). The narrator also illogically attributes living qualities to the wallpaper that finally produces a woman who comes from behind the paper, first just at night and then both during the day and night. The final illogical humanization of the paper is the woman, who has been trapped behind the paper, is so identified with the narrator that they have changed places completely. The narrator says, ‘“I’ve got out at last,’’ said I, ‘’in spite of you and Jane. And I pulled off most of the paper so you can’t put me back!”’(line 266). All these illogical thoughts seem very real to the narrator and that is what makes it so difficult for a cure to come from the individual alone. So rest or exercise or strong will does not cure psychosis.

The Story of an Hour

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin describes the thoughts and feelings that are depicted in one hour of the life of Louise Mallard after hearing that her husband’s death in a railroad accident. Kate Chopin uses the protagonist Mrs. Mallard to represent her idea about realism through showing ordinary people and women in particular live suspended between what actually is and what they want in their life. Mrs. Mallard feel the strong need to have a exceptional time alone that would really make a difference for her to acknowledge herself, do something special for herself rather than always doing for others. She gets that time for herself but it was by coincidence and very short.

Mrs. Mallard is a woman trapped in an oppressive marriage, who wants desperately to escape. She is given that chance, quite by accident, when she receives the news of her husband's death. In her room, Louise sinks into a comfortable chair and looks out her window. In a very short time, the newly widowed woman is looking out of the window and sees spring and all the new life it brings. It's obvious that she is happy and not sad as expected from a woman who just heard of her husband's death. But it is expected from a woman who was not happy in her marriage and wished for her freedom. Mrs. Mallard thought and believed that she will enjoy her freedom forever after her husband's death, that's why she couldn't afford the good news of her husband's return alive.