Tillie Olsen's I Stand Here Ironing

In the essay “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, the narrator is Emily’s mother. The mother is discussing with the therapist Emily’s need for “help”. There isn’t much of a physical description of the mother, however you get the impression she is young (at age 19 she has to find a job), frail, tired and naïve and yet strong. Although she is left alone at 19 to raise an eighth month old baby, she does not give up she does what she believes she has to do to raise that baby. Times where very tough and it was hard for her to find a job. Once she did find a job she realized that she could not handle Emily on her own. The mother put Emily in nursery school where she knew “the teacher was evil” and those nursery schools where nothing but a “parking lot for children” because th...