Mother And Daughter example essay topic

She was dark and thin and foreign-looking in a world where the prestige went to blondness and curly hair and dimples, she was slow where glibness was prized. She was a child of anxious, not proud, love. We were poor and could not afford for her the soil of easy growth. I was a young mother, I was a distracted mother. There were the other children pushing up, demanding. Her younger sister seemed all that she was not.

There were years she did not want me to touch her. She kept too much in herself, her life was such she had to keep too much in herself. My wisdom came too late. She has much to her and probably little will come out of it.

She is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear. (Olsen 262) The most noticable irony with this passage from "I Stand Here Ironing", is the constant conflict ion the narrator brings forth. Also, this passage is told in a calm and matter-of -fact tone, which correlates very well to the title of the short story as Olsen expresses her own thoughts. Olsen creates a few different tones and excuses for her daughters troubled life. Initially she points blame at the media's creation of what women should look like. She then quickly jolts towards blaming herself as an unfit mother.

Then right away slips right back into questioning if it was even her fault. She thinks her perhaps her daughter simply has a different personality. It is easy to forget she's even talking about her daughter, as it seems that the reality of her and her daughter's life is brought out by much hardship. To some extent I believe that it is plausible to assume both the mother and daughter are very similar, along with the fact that this passage incorporates an overall feeling about people during the time of depression and war. The mother was too busy making a life for everyone that her one daughter was driven away. The daughter's own self-indulgence drove her mother away from her.

The passage mentions "anxious, not proud, love", "she has so much in her and probably little will come out of it", as well as "a child of her age, of depression, of war, or fear". Many were looking for anything to boost spirits, even love was sometimes not what it should have been, it was just enough to get one by. During the war and depression, millions lost all they had, thus putting a damper or complete end to their own potential and life-long goals. Finally, many were just like the author's daughter, in that age that was nothing but depression, fear, and war. Olsen tells us her own story as she sees it fit, while leaving it open enough for all of us to understand what life was like during the war and depression.