helpless before the iron

7/21/2019 HELPLESS BEFORE THE IRON

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HELPLESS BEFORE THE IRON

The motives of housework in I Stand Here Ironing b Ti!!ie

O!sen

"on#$ %bo&i!

'Housework is too trivia! to ta!k about( is a )uote I found in

an arti*!e b Pat +aniardi *a!!ed The Politics of Housework, -t

first I did think the idea of m essa wou!d be too

unim.ortant/ ridi*u!ous even0 The theme of housework in I

Stand Here Ironing b Ti!!ie O!sen, However/ the stor is so

moving and the .ers.e*tive on a seeming! trivia! theme of

*hores so *om.!e1 I de*ided to tr and fo*us on it, Housework

is seen not on! as a ne*essar as.e*t of surviva!/ but a!so an

obsta*!e kee.ing one awa from 2o, It *an even modif the

!anguage of the stor, To sum it u./ it is because housework

might seem so irre!evant that I de*ided to stress the

im.ortan*e of this theme in I Stand Here Ironing ,

The stor of I Stand Here Ironing o.ens u./ not sur.rising!/

with a mother ironing a dress of her daughter Emi!/ thinking

about an unsett!ing message from Emi!3s s*hoo! *ounse!!or0 'I

wish ou wou!d manage the time to *ome in and ta!k with me

about our daughter, I3m sure ou *an he!. me understand her,

She3s a oungster who needs he!. and whom I3m dee.! interested

in he!.ing,(



It is eas to assume the narrator fai!ed as a mother, The te1t

is fi!!ed with gui!t/ whi*h is re.resented either in doused

*ries of e1*uses 'I was nineteen/( or overwhe!ming sadness in

sim.!e *onfessions '4hen 5Emi!6 saw me she wou!d break into a

*!ogged wee.ing that *ou!d not be *onfronted/ a wee.ing I *an

hear et(, The worried narrator starts reminis*ing the !ife of

her o!dest daughter who arguab! had the most diffi*u!t

*hi!dhood *om.ared to her sib!ings0 '-fter a whi!e I found a

2ob hashing at night so I *ou!d be with 5Emi!6 das/ and it

was better, But I *ame to where I had to bring her to fami!

and !eave her,( One of the most heartbreaking moments of the

stor is when the narrator rea!i7es her daughter was 'se!dom

smi!ed at(0 '8ou shou!d smi!e more at Emi! when ou !ook at

her,( 4hat was in m fa*e when I !ooked at her9 I !oved her,

There were a!! the a*ts of !ove, It was on! with the others I

remembered what he said/ and it was the fa*e of 2o/ and not of

*are or tightness or worr I turned to : too !ate for Emi!(

4hen the narrator is not b!aming herse!f/ she admits there were

se!dom o..ortunities to 2ust en2o ea*h other3s .resen*e0

'There was so !itt!e time !eft at night after the kids were

bedded down, She wou!d strugg!e over books/ a!was

eating , , , and I wou!d be ironing/ or .re.aring food for the

ne1t da/ or writing ;<mai! to Bi!!/ or tending the bab,

Sometimes/ to make me !augh/ or out of her des.air/ she wou!d

imitate ha..enings at s*hoo!,(



In the .ortfo!io of the author Ti!!ie O!sen there is one

keword defining her work : silences. -!though this word

reffers to O!sen3s book of essas most! dea!ing with the

strugg!es of women writers/ I wou!d !ike to use the word in a

s!ight! different *onte1t, There are on! two mentions of a

man : a .artner : a husband in I Stand Here Ironing , The men as

members of the fami! are si!en*ed/ or/ to be more .re*ise/ the

narrator si!en*es herse!f when ta!king about them, One .artner

!eaves0 'I worked or !ooked for work and for Emi!3s father/

who '*ou!d no !onger endure( =he wrote in his good<be note>

'sharing want with us,(

The other is sent ;<mai!s, 4here is the .artner to he!. out at

home/ to he!. raise the *hi!dren9 The )uestion *ou!d be

answered with the )uotation of Politics of Housework from the

beginning of this essa0 'Housework is beneath 5men3s6 status,

5+en3s6 .ur.ose in !ife is to dea! with matters of

signifi*an*e, 54omen3s6 is to dea! with matters of

insignifi*an*e, 54omen6 shou!d do the housework,(

Housework is obvious! not insignifi*ant/ neither it is

trivia!, +oreover/ it *an be argued that *onstant attention on

*hores makes the ga. between the mother and Emi! even wider, -

bit of iron .o.s u. b the end of the stor/ where Emi!

=.resumab! as a 2oke> understates her mother3s work0 '-ren?t

ou ever going to finish ironing/ +other9 4hist!er .ainted his



mother in a ro*ker, I?d have to .aint mine standing over an

ironing board,(

The smbo!i*s of housework and ironing in .arti*u!ar *ou!d be

seen in the ver !ast .aragra.h of the stor0 'Let her be, So

a!! that is in her wi!! not b!oom < but in how man does it9

There is sti!! enough !eft to !ive b, On! he!. her to know <

he!. make it so there is *ause for her to know < that she is

more than this dress on the ironing board/ he!.!ess before the

iron'

-**ording to Rose @ame!/ Emi! 'is in fa*t a disembodied dress

.ushed and .u!!ed her mother3s iron' : unti! her mother *!aims/

or wishes/ Emi! is more than that, The daughter is not

helpless before the iron, An!ike the mother herse!f,

The !ast thing I wou!d !ike to *omment on is the !anguage of

the stor itse!f, I Stand Here Ironing is in fa*t an inner

mono!ogue of 'a distra*ted mother'/ or a *!ums writer who has

!aid under the budren of *hores for most of her outh, -s the

author herse!f *!aims in her book Silences0 'The habits of a

!ifetime when everthing e!se had to *ome before writing are

not easi! broken/ even when *ir*umstan*es now often make it

.ossib!e for writing to be first habits of earsCres.onse to

others/ distra*tabi!it/ res.onsibi!it for dai! mattersCsta

with ou/ make ou/ be*ome ou, The *ost of Ddis*ontinuit3

=that .attern sti!! im.osed on women> is su*h a weight of



things unsaid/ an a**umu!ation of materia! so great/ that

everthing starts u. something e!se in me what shou!d take

weeks/ takes me sometimes months to write what shou!d take

months/ takes ears(

-s Rose @ame! noti*ed/ I Stand Here Ironing is fu!! of

'*hara*teristi* st!isti* *!ues embedded in the o**asiona!!

inverted snta1/ run<on senten*es inters.ersed with fragments/

re.etitions/ a!!iterative .ara!!e!s/ an in*antator rhthm

evoke the narrator?s !onging not on! for a !ost *hi!d but for

a !ost !anguage whereb she *an order the *haoti* dai!iness of

a working mother?s e1.erien*e,(

helpless before the iron

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