Research/Analysis Regardless of who they are and/or how they grew up, I Stand Here Ironing tells readers that everyone has the ability to be more than what the people around them and society as a whole tell them they should be. This isn't exactly a revolutionary idea, but the way the story is told is anything but ordinary. The entire story is an internal monologue of the narrator; a concerned mother, presumably middle class or lower. The iron used by the narrator in the story is actually a symbol of social pressures and the clothes being ironed represent the narrator's daughter, Emily, who is the focus of the story. You might even say that “The physical act of smoothing out wrinkles with an iron echoes the mental realignment of memories of the mother's actions and emotions” (Snodgrass). It is in the narrator's stream of consciousness that readers are introduced to the story's conflict; the narrator was approached by an unknown stranger, presumably a teacher, concerned about Emily's behavior and well-being. Emily's upbringing was definitely not perfect, it was difficult and stressful for both her and her mother, but it was the best they could do at the time, which is why the narrator does not look back with pity. Instead, she recalls “realistic resignation to the circumstances of her daughter's life” (Snodgrass). There is a sense of privacy and meditation in the way the story is presented that enhances its beauty in a way that wouldn't occur if it were told other than this sort of intrapersonal narrative. Through this, the narrator shows readers a very raw version of what motherhood is in a way that is “stripped of romantic distortions and re-infused with the power of a genuine metaphorical insight into the problems of selfhood in the modern world” (Frye, 287). Ultimately, the narrator knows that her daughter will be okay because she is confident that Emily has grown up strong enough mentally and emotionally to remain true to herself even in the face of society's iron heat. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Answer This is probably my favorite work that we have read in class so far. I found it absolutely beautiful, but incredibly heartbreaking at the same time. I know most people would probably think the mother was the more relatable person, but I liked the idea of ​​Emily better. I think in many ways Emily reminded me of myself and the narrator made me think of my mother, which is why this story really moved me; something that is normally very rare. There were many parallels between the characters in the story and my personal life that took me by surprise. For example, I myself am one of five children. My mother raised my older sister, my twin sister, and me alone after divorcing my unstable father when I was three. Nine years later she remarried and I had a stepfather and two new stepsisters. The only real difference I've found between me and Emily is that she's the older one and I'm the younger. When I read this story, I imagined a similar story where I was Emily and the narrator was my mother. In my version of the story there is no note from a concerned adult asking my mother to speak, instead there is what was supposed to be my suicide note from last year, and my mother is not standing in front of the 'ironing board, rather it's next to my hospital bed, but just like the narrator of I Stand Here Ironing is trying to justify my upbringing and trying desperately to make sure that.