I Stand Here Ironing Symbolism

Throughout the short story “Pancakes” by Joan Bauer, Bauer uses metaphors and imagery to portray Jill as an overwhelming perfectionist, who fears failure. As the story unfolds Jill is irritated with the memory of her ex-boyfriend Allen, by an article about perfectionism her mom taped to her bathroom mirror. Jill makes herself get ready for work in the awful waitress uniform “that [was] ironed and starched the night before: blue, long-sleeved ankle-length dress, white apron, white-and-blue flowered bonnet” (Bauer 212). By describing the way the uniforms looked it gave the reader a sense of imagery and how Jill dreaded putting on the long ankle-length dress that swam on everyone that has worn it. Even though she despised the uniform

work. This was especially prevalent in the description of the quilt in lines 15 through 17 as

The character was illiterate and thus excluded her from others. In the beginning of the story, the shame from the daughter and others was made prevalent as the author wrote “I learned to be ashamed of my mother” (58). The shame and prejudice began to grow when the mother goes to the school to register her daughter. The mother needed and asked for help when she was filling out the forms that were required for her daughter to go to school. The author wrote “The women asks my mother what she means . . . The women still seem not to understand. ‘I can’t read it. I don’t know how to read or write,” (60) showing that the women the mother was asking for help, did not understand her question, because her ignorance of other people. Her poor understanding of the question clearly made the mother feel even more ashamed of herself. The author goes on to write “My mother looks at me, then looks away. I know almost all of her looks, but this one is brand new to me.”(61) exhibiting how the mother never felt so ashamed and embarrassed in front of her daughter. Once the woman realizes that she was on a higher “level” than the mother, she agreed to help, the author wrote “and suddenly appears happier, so much more satisfied with everything”(61). The mother was being ridiculed and humiliated by the second, as the other

As a result of these roles, the daughter’s and mother’s perspectives differ greatly, thus adding tension between the characters. Since the family moves a lot, the teenage daughter has her own concerns. Such as, making friends, and trying not to be the “new kid” in school all the time. On the other hand, the single mother, has other concerns. These include trying her best to support her daughter, and going to Costa Rica to complete her research so she can graduate; and this is all “for the better,” for her and her daughter. In an intense argument about moving to Costa Rica, the mother states, “...this a wonderful opportunity for you,” the daughter responds, “Opportunity? For me? Or for you?” This depicts the rising tension between the mother and daughter. It is obvious that in this scenario, the daughter felt like she was powerless, and that her other always gets to decide everything. This causes the daughter to become contrary and withdrawn. At one point in the story, the narrator goes into her room, and ignores her mother who is trying to talk to her from the other side of the door. In the text, her mother states, ‘She paused for a moment then continued. ”Would you please talk to me?”’ This emphasizes the conflict between the two, since the tension at this point reached it’s peak. Since the daughter isn’t replying to anything her mother says, this really implies the emotional stress both the mother and daughter went through. In general, it’s hard to constantly switching schools and trying to make new friends, but in this case, it becomes evident that the narrator is at the end of her line. She can’t take it anymore, all the moving, and “fitting in.” This establishes a strong sense of emotional struggle from the narrator’s perspective. By doing so, the author makes it blatantly obvious that the

Different types of symbolism are used to add significance to point out uniqueness in connotations that a writer uses when writing literature. An author’s literary works may include multiple symbols to give perception to his or her readers. When a writer uses a symbol, it is intended to heighten the sense a reader’s communication of literary works. The three key symbols in the short story in “Everyday Use” is that of quilts stored away in a trunk, the house, and hands. The quilts represented the African American’s women talent of creativity from those that were made from by other individuals from other people. It is noted that the quilts depicted that a guiding principle during the time of slavery for which they were used to send a form of communication to other slaves (Kirszner and Mandell, 2012). As stated by Kirszner and Mandell (2012), “One design, the Log Cabin, was hung outside to mark a house of refuge for fugitive slaves. Other quilts mapped escape routes out of a plantation or county, often by marking the stars that would act as a guide to freedom for those escaping at night” (page. 345). When slavery came to an end, the quilts created during this period of time were remembered for their significance of ethnicity and legendary importance by the African Americans. Dee was the daughter of the momma who thought it would be better to change her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo as she did not want to carry the heritage name as it seem to trouble her. Dee looks around for items that she can back home with rather than spend valuable time with her mama and Maggie. Suddenly takes notice a truck that is sitting at the end of her mama’s bed, and she pulls out two quilts that were made by her very own ancestors. Dee requests to take the quilts home with her; however, the mama informs her that she had plans to give them to Maggie upon her marriage. Dee was selfish as she wanted them for herself only to display them on a wall, and requested the ones that were completely sewn by hand. The mother suddenly reminisces how the different pieces had a story behind them about herself and her heritage. Why, the quilts were made to be put on a bed. Dee had an opportunity to take a quilt with her when she went off to college

Next, evidence that shows a daughter is briefly heard is the other character interjects and asks a question. The character interjects when the mother asks if she sang Benna in Sunday school, the girl interjects and said she never did that. A daughter would want to interject with her mother to tell her she did not sing an un-lady like song in. Also, the character asks what she should do if the baker will not let her squeeze the bread to see if it is fresh. The mother replies by asking, “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker wont let near the bread?” This shows a mother is talking to her daughter because the speaker sounds disappointed after her daughter she is still going to have a bad reputation after all the mother has done for her. In conclusion, the speaker in the text “Girl” is a mother and the person briefly heard is the daughter. This is because the speaker is telling the other person tips to make chores easier and advice for her life, which is something mothers do for their daughters. The other character

     Emotional support also plays an important role of Emily’s well being. The idea mother suppose to care, support, and value their children needs. Emily needed this nourishment. She needed her mother to smile at her in order for her to feel a connection with the person that she supposed to be able to depend on. Emily’s mother did not know how to communicate with Emily. The mother-daughter relationship has an element of coldness, it lacks warmth. “There were years she did not want me to touch her” (Olsen 262). Emily’s mother inability to interact with her, leaves Emily unloved and in return, she shall not express any love toward her mother. Emily’s mother feels her “wisdom came too late” (Olsen 262). With this thought in mind, Emily’s mother shall never show communication or love to Emily, therefore the relationship shall continue to be doomed.

Although the mother may have been trying to help Emily, the mother should have tried to take care of Emily better instead of sending her off as the only solution. One of the other effects of her mother’s unavoidable neglect is Emily’s failure to be on the same pace as her peers in class. She is at a state of illiteracy that is uncommon for her age at the time which may be a result from staying at home instead of going to class to take care of the household. In addition to the mother’s neglect, having a sister who was the ideal poster child may have caused self confidence problems as she grew older being the odd one out in the family. Emily’s mother should have made sure she was able to take care of Emily first before deciding to give birth to another child. What the mother thought would be the best option for Emily had a more clear negative effect on Emily after she grew older still not having any clear direction in her life.

As a reader, we notice that she is using repetition of going back and forth through these emotions and tones. Another repetition that is happening through this paragraph is the saying “this is how to”. With the repetition, we go back to the mother yelling at her daughter

Since her mother expressed her words in an imperfect manner, tan believed that her thoughts were also imperfect (Tan 274). Her perception was also supported by how people in society responded to her mother. Tan states that people in department stores, banks, and restaurants would not take her mother seriously. They would provide her bad service, pretend not to understand her, or act as if they were mute (Tan 274). This further contributed to Tan's feeling of embarrassment and shame towards her mother. Tan also describes an incident in which her mother went to the hospital and was told that the hospital had misplaced her CAT scan. The hospital did not show any remorse for losing the scan, nor did they assure her that they would locate it, that is until her mother had Tan speak to the hospital (Tan 275). As a reader this shows us how language is perceived and the role that it plays in the lives of individuals. For Tan it was imperative that she was able to blend in and be like others, so that she wouldn't be ridiculed. Luckily, she was able to realize the positive influence that her mother's diction bought her.

Emily is angry and resentful. She is angry at her mother and blames her for her life and the way she has turned out. Her mother has always put her down and constantly tell her that she was

Here the tone shifted from prideful to authoritative. Dee demanded to own the two quilts. Mama said the quilts had been made by her ancestors and she “hung up on them on the quilt frames on the front porch and made them (762).” The quilt frames symbolize the object which helps organize and keep the family's generations alive, and the front porch symbolizes the connection of the family with the world. Mama knew the quilts were what kept the generations together, regardless of what the people around thought or did.The quilts needed to be used in order to keep the family traditions alive. Soon after, the protagonist came up with an excuse and said the “lavender [pieces], [came] from old clothes” which had been “handed down (762).” The lavender symbolizes love and devotion. The old clothes symbolize the legacy of the family's heritage. Although Dee only wanted to the quilts, Mama felt her past family's love and devotion through the quilts. Dee wanted the quilts because to preserve them, not because of an emotional connection to them. In addition, the young woman continued to offend her mother to the point where Mama told her the quilts were for Maggie, the youngest sister, and Dee exclaimed how her sister could never “appreciate the quilts.” She continued and said “She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use (762).” Everyday use represents the “everyday use” of customs and true purpose of the quilts. Although Dee thinks her sister will destroy the blankets through sex and daily use, Mama wanted her to understand how everything she wanted had a special purpose in their

From the beginning, the house and clothing functions as the daughter has to have cleanliness because people are always watching and will judge her reputation and social class. Kincaid states, “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (17). In this line, the mother gives a clear understanding of why the clothes must be properly taken care of because, no matter what, people seem to be watching the appearance of clothes worn, looked and they will treat someone the way they think that someone should be treated if they are dressed indecent. The mother speaks to her daughter with a commanding tone and never says “please” when giving

Emily’s upbringing is plagued with difficulties. She is the first-born of a young mother and the eldest of five brothers and sisters. As a baby, she is

In the story, “I Stand Here Ironing”, written by Tillie Olsen, the iron symbolizes the role of poverty and loneliness in the mother’s life., hence the title. The iron itself represents the mother’s current circumstances; poverty, loneliness, and other misfortunes whereas the actual motion of ironing represents the mother’s train of thought.