I Stand Here Ironing - Assignment Example

There are different characters involved in the story and they include Emily, Emily’s mother, Emily’s father, Emily’s stepfather, and Susan (Olsen 270).
Use of Symbols and Figurative Language

The narrator in the story uses iron as a symbol. Iron represents Emily’s mother's responsibility and chores that prevent her from engaging more profoundly with the life of Emily. Emily’s mother is concerned with his duties in order to raise Emily and this is ironic because those duties made her fail in giving the appropriate care to Emily (Olsen 271).
Setting and Atmosphere

The story is set or moves in a long timeframe. It is set in the 1950 but it focuses back on 1930 during the time of the great depression and 1940s at the time of the Second World War. The story is also set in the narrator’s working-class home as she indicates that after the birth of their first child they were poor and could not afford to bring up the daughter as required (Olsen 272).
Theme

The themes present in the story include the unspoken burden of motherhood and the nature of guilty. The story shows the role which mothers should perform as expected by society (Olsen 270).
Plot

In the story, Emily’s mother is contacted by her daughter’s school counselor or teacher. She informs him about how her daughter had a troubled life while growing. The difficulties which the mother talks about her daughter include, she was left by her father when 8 years old, She was sent away to live with relatives because her mother was poor and she was sent to a convalescent home and she never enjoyed it (Olsen 273).