In the second to last paragraph of Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing”, Emily’s mother, who is the narrator of the story, gives the reader a succinct synopsis of her recollections of her life raising Emily, her oldest daughter. She recounts, in summation, the events that shaped her and Emily’s early years together, and which frame the rest of the story to that point. She explains how and why these events influenced here parental decisions, and the effect those decisions had on the psyche of her daughter, and the person she would become. In this paragraph, the writer brings us full circle in the introspective journey taken by the mother; a journey fraught with guilt, remorse, and self doubt. As a single mother trying to survive the hardships
