When I first began to read Zagrowsky Tells, I was a little bit lost. Actually I had to reread certain parts over again and had to play it in my head to try to get the feel of this story and what I believe to be the purpose. What jumped out to me was how now, not only is this writing about the transformation of old world into new world but is now moving towards the transition of the mixture of race and it’s fight for acceptance – which is also new for those in the new world. As Zagrowsky, explains his “tell” it seems that his wife, Nettie, and their two sons had shifted into the American culture willing while he lingers and tries to hold to his own traditions. Zagrowsky was a successful Pharmacist who happened to be racist towards those who were colored but would not admit to it. Either way, it was pointed out by a few women who made it known to the community. This exposure contributed to almost destroying his work, along with the sickness of his daughter Cissy. But it’s funny and a little ironic to me how Zagrowsky who was racist would end up with a color grandson, Emanuel, who now is stuck like glue to him. Like it or not Zagrowsky had to accept Emanuel to keep the peace with Cissy and to not be the death of her. I believe this helped Zagrowsky a little to accept those who are colored and is probably why now he won’t admit that he was racist. It’s also interesting how it’s Cissy, the sick child, who caused her father to attempt to change with the new world – which he did a little, he did not show any hatred toward Emanuel but thought the colored people who lived in his apartment where snobbish. I can see that race was not an open topic. When Zagrowsky brought Emanuel to the Itialian side, they merely acknowledge him and then acts as if he did not even exist. But at the end of it all Zagrowsky did consider Emanuel as a friend. What I can’t wrap my head around is near the ending of the story when the man with the strapped baby came up to talk to him and the women ran him off. I don’t see why the females attacked him, Zagrowsky had already ran him off and it’s not like the man was persisting with bothering him any longer.
I agree with you about the story being a little confusing because I also had to reread a few lines because the dialogue is very quick and it shifts between characters fast. When it comes to Zagrowsky, I feel as though he is the perfectly ironic character in two ways. The first is that he is Jewish, a people who have been descriminated against for their entire existance, yet he is racist towards black people, making him just as bad. The second way being that he is racist towards black people, and yet ends up with a black grandson who loves him very much. I think the author wanted to give the readers a reason to hate Zagrowsky as well as a reason to root for him because aside from being a little grumpy, he really isnt a bad person. About the part at the end with the ladies runnig off the other genleman. I believe this happens because of Zagrowsky's conversation with Faith. During the conversation I think that Faith really sees a good side in Zagrowsky and feels bad for leading the charge against him and his pharmacy. Ithink that warding off the man was a way for Faith to show Zagrowsky that she and the other women have his back.
I also agree that Zagrowsky Tells was an extremely difficult piece to read and follow. I had to reread so many lines due to the fact that the text really never showed dialogue shifts and at times I found myself very confused to who was actually speaking. Zagrowsky is probably one of the most ironic characters I have encountered as well. The fact that people thought he was racist and yet ended up with a black grandson is just the ultimate “F You, change your ways” coming from G-d. I felt that the whole purpose of the woman Faith was to further show how the image of som people could be changed. Just as Zagrowsky’s image of colored people changed, Faith in turn changes the way she thinks about Zagrowsky when she sees how his perception of those who are different has altered. I also feel that Zagrowsky may still have been a little racist towards the end, but just like the rest of America around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, they all had to start breaking racism somewhere. Whether it was to heal Cissy or to just start moving along with the way things were starting to move, Zagrowsky’s racism eventually began to falter and diminish because of his love for Emanuel.
Justin Huntman I agree that the story Zagrowsky Tells by Grace Paley really is a very confusing piece to read. From very early on in the story you are confused who is speaking in the piece. It seems to me that in the beginning the story is truly lacking in transitions. I also found my self re reading passages multiple times in order to get a clear understanding of what was being said in the passage and who was saying it. I also found it a problem for how long it took with all the re reading to get a good understanding of who each character is. The characters are described early on in the story but the relation to one another is very confusing and hard to follow, which goes along with the problem of trying to figure out who is even speaking in certain parts of the story. I do feel that the story is great and the irony in the story makes reading it somewhat humorous but, with the fact of having to reread it a few different times just to understand what is going on means you loose part of the story. While the story was good I would agree that because of the hard to follow writing style this story is painful to get threw.
Tillie Olsens' "I stand her ironing" was for the most part a fun difficult read for me. I wasn't used to reading a story like this that required me to really pull pieces together. The way the author wrote this story I had a lot of questions about. Throughout the reading I was constantly always having a question that wasn't being answered or having a thought about something that would shortly be answered. A question that I constantly had in my mind was why the mother was standing ironing thought the entire story of her remembering how her daughter life was growing up. Another question I had was why the author made that the title of the story. Was it that big of a part of the story? Or was it something beyond the main point that the reader was suppose to understand? After re-reading the story as a second time I came up with a couple of theories. One reason I thought is because the author wanted the reader to see how busy the mother actually was. That the mother didn't have time just to sit back and think and relax, that there was always something that was needed to be done by her. Or another reason I thought was because the author wanted the reader to relate to the mother in the sense of her thinking and reminiscing about something why she does a task that is repetitive. For example, like when I paint my nails, it is a task that needs my attention but not to the point where I'm not thinking about anything else, it still allows me to think and remember certain things. Something I enjoyed about the story was the daughter, Emily, the way the author made her life out to be. It was interesting to hear about how the daughter went from colorful happy to being more depressed and to her self then back to being happy. It was good to hear the story as the mother told it because it sounded like I could hear the mother telling the story and explaining her life. I could picture it easily. You can easily see how the daughter feels about her life throughout the story and understand why she was the way she was. I overall enjoyed the story and found it to be a fun read!
Kayleigh Koskan I agree with Stephanie in that it was a fun yet difficult read. I like that the narrator was flashing back over her daughters’ entire life, it gave us all a good background on where she was coming from. It was difficult in the fact that there were a lot of unanswered questions like why they made such a big deal out of the mother spending the whole time ironing as Stephanie had said. After re-reading the story I’m still unsure of the symbolism with that. The mother spending the whole story ironing has to mean something seeing as it is the title of the story. I too thought the transition Emily had gone through was interesting. At first she was this bright eyed, happy girl and then she became closed off and kept to herself, then back again to a happy girl. I think this was due partly to the fact that she was always moving from place to place that she eventually just stopped letting people in because she did not want to become attached to them only to move somewhere new. Once she was stable back with her mother for good she was happy again. Another reason for this could be the fact that all her life she was treated poorly by her mentors and told things like she was stupid or she can’t love people but then once she got involved with acting she was praised for it being asked to perform for many events and told how great she was; it brought her self-esteem back up.
Alex Dishman I have to agree with Stephanie that I don’t understand the symbolism of the ironing board and the mother ironing. I feel like something else could have been used to represent whatever it represents and that the author should have been more clear about what it was representing. I agree with the theory that maybe the author’s purpose was to show how busy the mother actually was and that she was always doing something since Emily’s birth. I think that a big theme emphasized in the story was in fact that the mother was so busy all the time and that her busyness was reflective in Emily’s character. I also enjoyed the character of Emily as well. I thought she was a very well shaped character and you could tell that her upbringing resulted in who she was. I think that the author made it very clear that the fact that Emily never had a steady home was reflected in her inability to accept herself and resulted in the decisions she made in her own life (i.e. acting to pretend to be someone she isn’t). I agree that the author did a good job of portraying Emily’s shift in personalities and that you could really sympathize with the mother’s guilty emotions.
Stephanie, I think you bring up a few excellent points here. I most definitely found Olsen’s style to be a bit unique; it was very choppy and scatterbrained. However, it grabbed my attention and made me want to read even more. Furthermore, I found Olsen’s style of writing to be a bit of a symbol as to how busy and hectic the mother’s life seems to be in the story. It was very believable to me that the mother was the narrator in the story, because the writing tended to be a bit messy, much like her life. She has so much to worry about that she cannot seem to focus on really structuring her story-telling.
Another thing I found very interesting about the story “I Stand Here Ironing” was the way in which the mother’s life and Emily’s life paralleled with one another. I noticed that in the beginning of the story, the mother mentioned that Emily was now 19 years old, then went on to say that she herself was only 19 when she had Emily. To me, that was a way of foreshadowing the fact that Emily’s life seemed to follow in the messy footsteps of her mother’s. There is such a sense of irony in this story, because the mother puts so much emphasis on trying to raise Emily in the most perfect way that she can, when in fact Emily ends up being the most screwed up of them all.
Kyndall Herman Like Stephanie I was also very puzzled by the fact that the mother was standing there ironing the entire story. It made me curious as to whom she was telling the story to- I had originally thought someone was actually standing there in front of her the entire time. I also think that a possible reason why she could have been standing there the whole time, flashing back to the present tense of her ironing, is showing that although through out the flashback on Emily, the mother had gone through a tough struggle too. She said she had Emily at nineteen, and then struggled to find work right away. The constant ironing shows how she has never really had a moment since to slow down. I think that since it mentions that she had Emily at nineteen and Emily herself is now nineteen is directly related. I think the mom is looking at Emily sort of as herself, a young girl with a lot of potential, and since she is doing so well with her acting, she doesn’t want to see her throw that all away by say getting knocked up.
I agree with Stephanie on the short story, “I stand here ironing”, being a difficult read. I don’t agree on fun read, but the short story did have its interesting moments. For example when the child went off to the school/ clinic, how the program wasn’t really affectionate and was just making Emily worse; after the people at the hospital told the mother that it would be a great place for the child. I also agree with the short story leaving a lot of unanswered questions, the narrator wasn’t a reliable source. Unless the mother wasn’t all there, like her daughter Emily, I also didn’t understand why she was ironing the entire story. And why it had such an impact on the story and title. I believe maybe the author was trying to use it as symbolization, but I don’t understand what it symbolized. The ironing could’ve shown us that the mother was a hardworking stay at home mother, who didn’t stop her task even when there was company there. I agree with Stephanie theory and the nail painting, that is a task that needs your full attention but can also leaving your mind wandering. I also enjoyed Emily’s character because the narrator illustrated her very well. We knew how she acted, her personality, what she looked like, etc. I didn’t enjoy the fact that the mother was not allowing Emily to grow as a young adult. I felt that the mother babied her and fed her a silver spoon throughout the story. I don’t know if the reason for that was because she felt responsible for how Emily acted. And because of her being a teenage mother, she wasn’t always there for Emily and she was trying to make up for it.
I agree with stephanie, this story is a hard read at first, but after re-reading the story gets easier. The story had plenty of interesting moments, one in which is the whole thing (with a few exceptions)takes place within the mothers head. I like how the author has her doing her daily routine but having the thought of how she raised her daughter and the guilt of how she did it nagging in her head. It leads me to believe that maybe the mother is not all there or maybe is scatterbrained from having to raise two kids work a bunch of jobs and still being young, maybe she is just worn to the point of breaking. Her realtionship with Emily is strained at best, but even through all of the Hell they go through one can see that the mother still has the bond that only a parent can share with a child. Even as Emily grew up and started to become an adult the reader can see the mother is still a little confused on how to treat her, she raised emily by the book and tried as a young mother but it didnt work out. So after Emily starts to become an adult, the mother is still trying to raise her by the book. By doing this she is babying her to no end which pushes Emily away. I htink the story is one about growing up and dealing with the decisions you made in your life and owing up to them in the end. I enjoyed this story very much, a good read.
Before I read I Stand Here Ironing , I was at first unexcited to read the story. I expected to have to read some overly wordy story about relating ironing to the Jewish plight. When the first line of the story came out at me, I braced myself for a boring, metaphoric story that I couldn't relate to.
As I read the first and second paragraphs, I became confused. Why is the author addressing this "you?" Is she talking to the audience or someone from her memory?
After I got past the first two paragraphs, I felt my suspicions to be correct about the story. It was a mundane activity paired with an aspect of someone else's life I had no interest in reading about. I felt her characters to be weak and confusing, even Emily's character was so bipolar that I couldn't really feel moved when she lost her innocence throughout the narration. I found myself skimming in certain parts, skipping over lines that held little meaning for me. But this all changed when I came to class on Monday. I feel like the sessions in class always open up my mind more and give me a more detailed explanation so that it makes sense to me. This happened when we began discussing Emily. Many short stories feature the "three part" circle. I especially enjoy these because they are similar to how life works. Our emotions of depression and happiness flutter around constantly because that is the way of the human. Emily's circle, albeit odd, did come to make sense. I found myself thinking when she was sent to the wellness building, "Yes, I might feel the same way had I had to leave home to live in a strange, foreign place to me." Her mounting depression was something I could relate to and I found myself slowly warming up to her character. I still don't like the fact that she did comedy. While she was depressed and overall a grey character, it felt as if out of nowhere that comedy became her salvation. I believe her mother would agree with me that it was unexpected of Emily to pursue such a hobby. It felt out of tune with her character. I had to go back home and re-read the story because I felt I at least owed it that. This time around, the first line of the story didn't daunt me, but instead made me open my mind to this woman trying to tell us about something important to her. Honestly, I'm just glad Emily found her happiness. I didn't like every aspect of this story, but I gained an appreciation of both Emily and her mother by the end. when she is ironing Emily's dress, I found symbolism there. I found her trying to even out Emily's life, take out all the wrinkles, in the only way she knew how. I did ask myself at one point, "Where is the Judaism?"What makes a story "Jewish?" Is it the fact that it was written by a Jew, or the fact that it contains Jewish content? I wish this story collaborated more of the Jewish experience other than Emily's looks, with her thin frame and dark hair. That wasn't enough for me, so I wish there had been more. My rating when I first read the story: 2/10 My rating of this story now: 6/10
I chose to reply to your response right when you mention the "three part" circle. This is the feature that kept jumping out at me in the story, and it made it seem like there was nothing else I should be focusing on because, like you said, the characters where pretty timid. I still feel like I don't have an actual bond with the characters like I normally do in stories like these ones where children are separated from their parents at a young age. I believe that the reasoning for this distance between some readers and the story is consequently due to the fact that majority of the story is flashback; I feel it's hard to get to know a character inside and out when there is not much dialogue or when the piece is structured around one character's feelings. Moving in the direction of Emily's comedic career, I was also taken aback when I first read that she was acting, and making people laugh, for that matter. I wish there would have been some foreshadowing in the beginning of the piece to at least derive the idea from somewhere. When we go over the pieces in class, I usually always go back and reread them, because everyone's different outlooks just really make things pop out at me that I never thought about. I, on the contrary, reread the story and liked it even less than I did the first time. The piece overall is obviously written very well, and I like a lot of elements of it, but once we discussed more the character's personalities and such in class, I just feel terribly depressed for the first three-quarters of the piece. Not a bad story by any means, I just was not in the mood to read and discuss something that was majority so saddening.
Cristina Vallarino When I began reading “ Tell me a Riddle” by Tillie Olsen, I did not understood what the story was about. The beginning was confusing and it was hard for me to understand. As the story developed I understood that this was a mother telling the story of her daughter. Someone asked her how could he or she help Emily and the mother was reminiscing about all her life. She remembered the first years of Emily and how hard was her childhood, Emily was a caring baby but at the same time she was a difficult baby. We can see the mood of the mom about how hard some years in her life had been and how much she had suffered. For example when she was send away because of her eating disorders and they did not let her have any contact with her parents and could not show the love she felt for them. We could see that the mother picture her as a good girl, very loving and caring. She was always thinking about her brothers and sisters and even though she felt different, because she was different. Even when she was not feeling good and was sick she will never complained to her mom, and we can see how the mom regret many things she felt she had done wrong and tried to change that behaviors with her new kids. This being a jewish literature class what I founded interesting is that even though the mother said a lot of details about her daughter life, we never see any aspect of jewish religion through the story. Also the way the short story was written was totally different from what we have been reading through the semester. I believe that this was a more personal story, the mother sharing all the personal details about their life together and opening her emotions to what she believed she had done wrong. The things she wished she had done different with Emily, knowing that she was such a great kids. How much she regretted being poor and not able to give her family everything she would have wanted to give them. We were in direct contact with the mother, did not have a different person from the outside telling the story like in other ones, she was personally talking and this made us closer to what the writer wanted to talked to us about and how she wanted us to feel about her narrative.
Devin Harkins Yes throughout this entire piece the mom discussed how much she regrets the way she treated Emily and how she feels pity for her daughter. The mother was always too busy working and making money so she could take care of her children that she didn't give Emily the attention that she needed and desperately craved. Emily is like a wild animal, free, lively, and thriving, but when she was put in all of these stressful and love-less situations she became somber and numb emotionally. The mother didn't realize that she was killing Emily's spirit until it was too late. It is not clear why Emily was always selfless as a child, I think the author made the character act that way to show that she isn't average, she is something special to be marveled at but her environment wouldn't allow it. Although you are right, there wasn't any religion in this story I think this story is trying to portray they social aspect of the Jewish culture. Jews are like the Character Emily, at first she tries to be herself but people frown upon her(Jewish lifestyles) so she tries to fit in with everyone else (assimilation) but yet people still shun her, so it's as if she has no place in this world where she(Jews) belongs. I think this story had more to do with the social perspective than religious and how its a constant tug of war to fit in or be yourself.
Cristina, I'm not sure I understand your assertions about the reading. I saw many ties between it and the other literary selections we’ve read. While the narrator is slightly more intimate with the audience, it’s not the first time we’ve encountered a writing that features a narrator simply recounting prior events and commenting on their current state. Examples that surface are How I Found America, The Shawl, and even In Dreams Begin Responsibility, even if the last option is less realistic. What seems to be a point of cohesion the other readings, in my opinion, is the sense of regret that surfaces, and the way she is seemingly caught up in former events that have continued to plague her. Clearly these events are very significant to her and there is no inclination this priority will budge. In regards to her not mentioning Judaism, this is also not the first time we’ve encountered a lack of direct reference in the readings, so I’m not clear on why this stood out to you. In Dreams Begin Responsibility held no direct mention of the Jewish religion or culture, either. This is a significant factor, though, seeing as it references the basis of our class – exploring what exactly is Jewish-American literature and what elements of it serve as definitive boundaries by which we can determine inclusion.
Maggie McCloskey For Zagrowsky Tells, by Grace Paley, I was right away confused from the begining. It was hard to distinguish the dialogue from what the narrator was thinking and what was actually going on in the story. I found myself having to reread many passages in the text. The story seems to take place after or during the Civil Rights era. The narrator, Zagrowsky talks a lot and when he is not talking, he is constanttly thinking about something. Actually it seems like there is little current action and a lot of him just talking. At one point he even says that he is not particularly fond of Faith, but he keeps talking because he "has to tell the whole story." So there is this interesting element of talking and telling one's story. At the end talking is brought up again and he says "everybody got something to say to the next guy." I think that, like Iz, everyone wants to tell their story at least once. Then the story goes full circle, with the man asking Iz about Emanuel and Iz snapping at him that he was not going to tell this guy his whole life story even though that was what he exactly did with Faith only moments before. The narrator is also, in my opinion, very unlikable. He clearly has strong opinions on race and women. But like Faith, I did feel a little bad for him for all the turmoil he went through. But then he either says or thinks a remark that zaps what pity I had felt for him before. In the story I also found familiar themes as with the previous stories. The biggest I think is the tension between Jewish parents and their children. The narrator does not really hide what he thinks. So when Cissy his daughter is pregnant she made sure to let him know that the father was African American. What is interesting though is that despite his strong racist opinions, it is clear that he really loves his grandchild Emmanuel. Another theme I found was religion. Even the woman he was talking to was named Faith and one of the first ways he described her was that "she gives me a look like God in judgement." It is also interesting that Cissy named her baby Emanuel. There is also a part where Iz messes up a fact about Abraham and Faith has to correct him. Overall I really do not know how I feel about the story. At times it was confusing and the narrator was not very likable. The only times that I found that I really only liked him was when he was with Emanuel.
Maggie, I thought you finding themes in Zagrowsky Tells by comparing the story to previous passages was very smart. It is not something I have made a conscious effort to do but find that it is indeed helpful, so thank you for helping me realize that. As for your thoughts on the passage, I think most can agree that this was a confusing and difficult read. Though Olsen also made it challenging to distinguish between thought and what was actually said, at least she used proper punctuation with quotation marks! As you said, most of the story is Iz thinking his thoughts, so when that present action does come and there is dialogue, it takes a moment to realize that’s where you are and by the time you do realize it, he’s back to just thinking again. And then there were the flashbacks where he was narrating a story but sometimes he was in the present narrating it and others he was just “thinking” it, explaining the background information for the reader. Because of this, I felt this almost scatter-brained tone as I read. Like the story is just one long stream of consciousness from Iz. I noticed the reoccurring “having to tell my whole story” point as well, though I’m not exactly sure what the significance of it is. Obviously Paley had to have a reason for bringing it back up but I didn’t catch it. Needless to say, this was my least favorite piece thus far. I don’t like to be confused when I read, it’s that simple.
I found "I stand here ironing" to a confusing read. This may be, however, on purpose by the author. The whole story is told by the mother's thoughts as she irons a dress. I found it interesting that the author choose to have the story told while she performed this choir. My mother and I know that others as well will bake or clean when they are nervous. This may be how the mother in the story chooses to deal with the stress related to her daughter. Her thoughts are worrisome and sporadic. The way it is ridden, from one thought to another, in such an almost in-complete way conveys this sense of quick nervous thinking to the reader. There are two parts to the story that really stood out to and didn't seem to belong. The first is when Emily says "in a couple of years when we’ll all be atom‐dead they won’t matter a bit". I didn't understand what this part had to contribute to the story, as I thought at this point she had found happiness. The next part of the story that didn't seem to fit was her role as a comedian. Why would someone so sad enjoy making other people? It just didn't fit together for me. As for the story as a whole though I found it to be very powerful. As I read I felt the great level of love that the mother had for her child. A lot of this is because of the point of the view that the story is told from. This is why the ending was so disappointing to me. To me what the mother seemed to be saying is that she was accepting that Emily would never become anything special. "She has much in her and probably nothing will come of it" tells me that she thinks she could be more. Why doesn't she believe in her children more than just accepting a dull life for her?
Also, I would not have guessed that this piece is American-Jewish literature. To me any references or Jewish culture in the story was not found. All the other stories so far have had a very strong Jewish presence in them. So much in fact that you'd have to blind to miss it. I do not understand how this piece fits and contributes to the genre.
Although some parts were confusing to me, I still found this to be a fun read and one of the more enjoyable stories of this class so far.
After reading “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen I find myself at a bit of a crossroad regarding the narrator. I do not know if I should regard her as a bad mother or a mother who was just placed in the wrong situations. While most stories with the similar plot line of a single mother who must take care of the family depicts the mother as the strong, loving, and nurturing keystone of the family, this story however flips those ideals on their head. It was a bit of a shock to read a story about a mother who is not conveyed as the shining “good guy.” The mother wants with all her might to care and love for her daughter Emily, but due to the Great Depression she finds herself overwhelmed at times and therefore cannot be that loving and nurturing figure we all expect a mother to be. So while the mother makes sacrifices to keep her family together, she also at the same time finds herself drifting emotionally further and further apart from her children. While I can applaud the narrator for being willing to make sacrifices for her family in the past, I cannot forgive her for her lack of encouragement of Emily’s comedic pursuits. Although she lacks the money and knowledge to further Emily’s acting, I got the feeling that the narrator was not fully supportive of the talent Emily possessed. Just as she ignores her talent the mother ignored most of her daughter’s problems throughout her life, almost hoping they would correct themselves over time. I believe the greatest gift the narrator could have given Emily was providing a different or better life for her child, but it seems that she has given up hope of accomplishing that for her. While the narrator is neither abusive nor intentionally neglectful to her children, there always seems to be a distance between her and her children, at least her first born Emily. The narrator is unable to establish direct contact with Emily throughout her life and for that reason really does not understand Emily or the problems she has. The narrator when thinking back on Emily’s time in the convalescent home even refers to an “invisible wall” that divides them both then and now. The narrator no more understands Emily than the teacher or counselor who requests the mother’s presence at the meeting that the story begins with. This story is really brilliant in the way that it challenges you to think what attributes make up a good mother. While the mother does everything thing she can to physically care for her daughter’s needs, it only serves to push her emotionally further away. Instead of presenting the nurturing role model mothers are expected to be, Olsen gives us a mother who obsesses about the harsh realities of family life. So can the narrator be considered a mother who is emotionally neglectful or a mother who was too busy with her motherly duties to nurture her children appropriately?
The story “I Stand Here Ironing” had some conflicting points for me as well. My outlook was that the mother’s love for her child was expressed the entire time and it was up to the reader to assess if the motherly role was a good one or not. The mother reminds me of present day single parents to some extent. She had to work long hours and her daughter had to go to day care. Today many working parents have to send their children to day care and summer camps in order to work enough hours to put food on their tables. I found it somewhat annoying how the author wrote the story in mostly flashback. I wish I had been able to get to know the narrator, mother, better instead of the story panning from her view of telling the life story of how she raised the daughter. The reader does not have much of an emotional connection with the mother. Lastly, I didn’t find a true connection with this story and how it tied into Jewish American Literature. It didn’t truly parallel any of the previous stories we have read thus far in regards to the religious ties or history to the Jewish faith or Jewish community.
I didn’t like that the story was written in flashback because I felt like I couldn’t make a strong connection with the characters. However, I agree with your assessment of the narrator. Usually single mothers are portrayed as perfect, loving beings who serve as the glue that holds the family together. This is the complete opposite for the narrator. As much as she may want to be this figure in Emily’s life, she simply does not seem to have the capacity for it. She plays the role of a traditional single mother, working full time in order to provide for her family and shouldering Emily off to daycare during the day or at night. She was only nineteen when Emily was born, so she didn’t have any idea how to raise a child. I feel like the narrator’s youth correlates with Emily’s upbringing, in that while the narrator makes mistakes and struggles her way through the turmoil of life, she in turn influences Emily to have the same outlook. Emily is a distant and unaffectionate child because her mother was distant and unaffectionate. Even when her mother realizes her mistake and tries to be close with Emily, she is pushed away because the distance is all that Emily has known.
""Zagrowsky Tells" was a very confusing reading for me. It took me the first two or three pages until I figured out that Zagrowsky was the pharmacist grandfather of the half-black five-year-old running around. It took me equally as long to figure out who Cassie and Faith were. I was constantly wondering how Faith was so relevant to the story. Every time it almost focused on her Zagrowsky started talking about his story again.
What I liked about this story was that I feel like everybody knows somebody like Zagrowsky. He is a Jewish man whose heritage was once ridiculed by others just by his faith and now he is a racist sexist who not only was racist in the past, but also racist practicing his business, and STILL racist even though his own flesh and blood, his grandson, is half black. For example, Zagrowsky says, "All right. A person look~ at my Emanuel and says, Hey! He’s not altogether from the white race·, what's going on? I'll tell you what: life is going on. You have an opinion. I have an opinion. Life. Don’t have no opinion" I think this is such a hilarious line. He reminds me of those old grandpas who just say whatever comes to their mind and then immediately contradicts it which is exactly what he does. What bothers me is that he does not realize the own IRONY of this entire story. He is a hypocrite. Even Faith and her friends MOCK him at the end by giggling and mimicking the way he yells at people for questioning him, yet, he questions everyone's everything and demands everybody stay out of his business WHILE he tells his business.
The devices I'm noticing are the tone and the voice. The point-of-view is clearly Zagrowsky and his tone is very blunt, matter-of-fact, and to the point. He doesn't beat around the bush. I see a lot of irony in this story. That is clear. The dialog is conversational but it's hard to keep up. With out the he said she said style, its hard to differentiate what he's thinking, what he's saying, what he's thinking other people are thinking, or if they're actually saying it.
In comparison to other readings, this is the driest ironic comedy I have ever read. I also think it may be the most present. It says that people to change, situations do. Although his religion was hated upon, he did the same thing to others. This story is about race, feminism, religion, and class all at the same time. He mentions things about lowering the standard of living by black people moving into his neighborhood, and he also mentions not wanting to lower his standing of living to accommodate Emmanuel.
Danielle Kaufman I had many conflicting feelings after reading “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen. In the beginning of the story I thought the mother (the narrator) was cold-hearted and twisted. She talked about her daughter like she was the ultimate disappointment, even at such a young age. However as I continued to read the story I could see the immense amount of love the mother had for Emily. I find it ironic that in the beginning of the story Emily’s mother says “You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” The narrator tells the person on the phone that she really doesn’t know all that much about her daughter. However when she reflects back on Emily’s life it seems that her mother has a lot of insight about Emily. Her analysis of Emily as a child is very in depth and it appears that her mother knows more about Emily than anyone else. I found the narrator’s detailed insight of her daughter to be endearing and heartfelt. The reader can tell that this is a subject the narrator has spent a lot of time thinking about. I found it incredibly sad how the narrator put a lot of Emily’s struggle on herself. “Or I will become engulfed with all I did or did not do, with what should have been and what cannot be helped.” I think she blames herself for not giving Emily everything that she could and everything that she gave her other children. The narrator has a lot of remorse that she couldn’t always be there for Emily and she believes this is a main reason why Emily wasn’t a “normal” child. I really loved when the narrator talks about Emily’s passion for comedy. The way she describes how Emily comes alive in front of an audience is truly beautiful and touching. I would say I’m a sucker for a happy ending and I think it left the reader satisfied that Emily found her calling in the end. “I Stand Here Ironing” is definitely my favorite story I have read so far in this class. That pure love that emanates from a mother-daughter bond like the one described in the story was inspiring and touching. It wasn’t a sugar-coated fairy tale, but a real life relationship with hardships and complexity. Because of this aspect, I think the story was more relatable and enjoyable.
Chynna Humphrey “I Stand Here Ironing” was an excellent read, in my opinion, about the hardships of motherhood and the guilt that this mother felt in the absence of her child during her earliest years. I felt the same way as Danielle in that I read the first page and thought that this mother was not a good person and perhaps apathetic towards her family because she begins the story stating that she does not know as much as she would like to know about her daughter. However, as the story progresses, it becomes evident to the reader that the mother’s absence in Emily’s life was because of her yearning to work hard and give her daughter a better life, as there was no father present at the time. It was her dedication to being a good mother that caused her to leave Emily with her father’s family and send her to a school that she did not care to go to. If the two of them were to survive, she had no other choice. In her relaying the story to us, as the readers, we are able to see the guilt Emily’s mother felt in doing this. She is aware of the fact that her other children received more attention and loving than Emily and she feels horrible about it. This theme of guilt resonates throughout the entire story.
The story I wanted to discuss this week is “Zagrowsky Tells”. Compared to the other stories, I think this one is my favorite so far. I absolutely loved how well developed, smart, and witty Iz is. The fist observation that really got me into the story is when Iz makes the comment on his grandson closing his eyes when asked to speak. The story reads, “Did you ever notice children get all mixed up. They don’t want t hear about something, they squinch up their eyes. Many children do this”. This description was so concrete and visually appealing to pretty much anyone who has had an interaction with a child around Emanuel’s age. He is so well aware of his surroundings and makes comments throughout the story to gain trust in his knowledge. When commenting on Faith’s sarcastic reaction when they first start talking about medicine, he says, “How do I know this? Years in a store. You observe. You watch. The customer is always right, but plenty of times you know he’s wrong and also a goddman fool”. His tone feels so matter-of-fact and I gradually became mesmerized by his knowledge, ideas, and educated sarcasm. After he recalls Faiths name, Iz goes into great detail about how he helped her child Richie. I was a little confused the message he was trying to send across because he can’t even remember this woman’s name, yet he recalls what floor she lived on, the temperature of her child, and details about her husband? Did he really not know her name and was toying with her? This part confused me. The next paragraph he explains how his mind has a mind of its own and he can’t control this, but it still didn’t clear up exactly why this part of his personality was important/necessary. Another part I loved shined on Iz’s wisdom. In reference to Emanuel not being white and people wondering what’s going on, he says, “I’ll tell you what: life is going on. You have an opinion. I have an opinion. Life don’t have no opinion”. Regardless of what anyone may think about how his grandson came to be and by what two people, the fact of the matter is, he is alive and part of this life. This was my favorite part of the story. Even though Iz had his own opinions, he was wise enough to admit that his opinion on who his daughter should and shouldn’t have a child with was never going to change the reality that he wasn’t all white, and that he should still find a way to love him.
In Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing I expected to read some metaphorical comparison between ironing and the Jewish assimilation and struggle into America during the 1930’s but was pleased it had much more personal and humanized themes within the story. Once I began reading I found the beginning of the story, the “you” Olsen uses makes the narrator address the reader strikingly bold, and compelling. From the very start I’m totally intrigued to find out who the narrator really wants to say this to. The fact that at the end I was still left with only an idea as to who the narrator was addressing, as oppose to a concrete answer to the initial doubts was sort of frustrating, but I think it adds to the tone of the story. The narrator seems to have a lot of regrets, frustrations, and self guilt toward her efforts and the rearing of her children, mainly her first born, Emily. These regrets mainly revolve around the fact that she had to always work hard laborious jobs to make ends meet, and this was the situation for many Jews in America during this time. However I feel that is only the surface layer to a greater question and struggle with identity within the Jewish community, in being Jewish, American or a mixture of both especially within women. I see this constantly being address in the physical contrasts mentioned among Emily and Susan and between the beauty standard of that time, Shirley Temple. The fact that all this is mentioned from the point of view of their mother also allures to the fact that she herself has doubts about her ability to be “glib or quick”, her perseverance, and how this has reflected upon her offspring. Almost the whole story takes place within the narrator’s head, or so it seems, and this is directly to show the impotence the narrator and many Jews felt during this time of hardship; in the author choosing to set the speaker ironing throughout the whole time, to have her confined to labor in every aspect of the story in order to highlight the inescapable need to work always. So in other words, the story is about regrets that revolve around having to constantly be working and aspects of life that get neglected, and even as the story is evolving the same conflict persist. There is even an instance in which Emily makes a remark that brings to present time the issue of neglect, necessity, regret and guilt that have been persisting in the text. “Aren’t you ever going to finish the ironing, Mother?” She never finishes, the story ends and one is left to assume she is still ironing, and one is also left to assume that Emily will continue on her struggle even though she is a reservoir of potential that is stumped due to circumstantial adversities. The only thing that is left after the text is a lingering feeling of sad hope.
Personally I really enjoyed reading the short story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen. I had never read a story highlighting such issues. Although, it is suppose to resonate within the Jewish community itself, since after all that's where it came from, it has a deeper meaning and methods of connecting to a larger audience. It is capable of surpassing the Jewish realm and allows for anyone whom is born from a woman (which means all of us) to connect to it, at least in that specific aspect of the story. As Lucy Macias shared, here we read about the struggles of motherhood especially during the Great Depression of the 1930's in America. We read about a mother who discusses the rearing of her first child, Emily. She speaks to a certain "you", and informs them what she did and did not do while raising her first child as oppose to the rest of her children. This train of thought was completely surprising to me, as well as incredibly interesting. Myself, an only child, I had never thought about a parents difference in rearing their children and it's impact on the guardian herself. For this specific reason, this has been my favorite story, opening up a world I was previously oblivious to. The voice that was created for this character was amazing, one is able to put oneself in the story and experience the guilt and ultimate resistance and understanding of why life turns out the way it does. Somewhat of a reflective piece it teaches one to expect the unexpected at times, since after all she lived in her short nineteen years, Emily was capable of making people laugh even though she herself "rarely smiled" as her mother informed the audience.
Through complex discourse and sentimental memories, Grace Paley’s Zagrowsky Tells reveals the story of an elderly Jewish man, Iz, raising his mixed grandson in New York City. Although depicting extreme detail through his words and stories, to me, Iz became in a sense an unreliable narrator as the tale progressed. This fickle behavior is exposed through the other characters in the novel that are conversing with Iz throughout the passage. These dialogues reveal Iz’s relentless generalized stereotypes of the people around him, as well as his materialistic mindset. Iz is seemingly an extremely racist man, as Faith states, “Whenever [he] saw a couple walk past on the block , a black-and-white couple, [he] said, Ugh-disgusting! It shouldn’t be allowed!” (5). Instead of denying it, Iz responds matter-of-factly stating, “So? It’s a matter of taste” (5). In another scene when Iz and his wife, Nettie, are talking to the Doctor about Cissy’s situation, he brazenly yells, “No…I can’t stand it. I refuse. Out of my Cissy, who looked like a piece of gold would come a black child. The then the psychologist says, don’t be so bigoted. What nerve!” (7). He cannot come to terms with the fact that someone would have the audacity to tell him he should keep a black baby, from HIS perfect daughter. In comparing Cissy’s looks to a piece of gold, Iz shows how much he treasures the corporal appearance of those around him. Using physicality as a lens in which to judge those around him, Iz seems to view anyone that is not a Jewish man in a negative light. Constantly putting a positive spin on himself, the reactions of the other characters in the novel reveal that Iz is exactly what he defensively claims not to be. He can’t understand why the women on his street picketed outside his house, even though Faith gives him countless examples of how he was racist to multiple customers, lamenting, “Faith, I still can’t figure it out why you girls were so mean to me” (5). This denial of the increasingly obvious truth leads me to doubt almost everything that is stated in the story, as Iz is telling the entire thing. Evidently extremely misogynistic, Iz constantly generalizes the actions of all women as unconstructive or annoying. When Faith apparently questions his attitude, he responds by saying, “I called Mrs. Z a grizzly bear a few times. It’s my wife, no? That I was winking and blinking at the girls, a few pinches. A lie…maybe I patted, but I never pinched. Besides, I know for a fact a couple of them loved it” (6). Literally no matter what someone accuses him of, he always has a way of reasoning with himself to make sure that his behavior is merited or non-existent. The irony of this concept is that throughout the text, Iz reveals his true sentiments multiple times, referring to Faith and her friends as “those women”, constantly making racist remarks, etc. The fact that he is always denying his actions but has no qualms about immediately challenging them, once again proves the unreliability of his narration.
“Zagrowsky Tells” by Grace Puley is a very different look at Jewish communities than the previous texts we have read. The first thing that popped out to me was the syntax and actual construction of the story. It is told in first person from a very close narrator. Stream of consciousness is present in several places in the story, which I was not expecting from a cross-gender narrator. Puley pulls this off by using very conversational tone, as if the narrator is having a conversation with himself in his head. From what I’ve seen in movies or read in other books, this style of thinking and interacting is a common Jewish way to get one’s point across. I mean, consider the Talmud. This ancient text is literally thousands of years of the best minds arguing back and forth, back and forth across the ages. The way the narrator goes back and forth with himself, even saying things in his mind he does not say out loud to Faith in conversation, may reflect a Jewish tradition of conversation. However, since I am not Jewish and am only a little familiar with Jewish culture, I cannot say for sure.
The other point of major interest to me in the story was the different way Faith and Zagrowsky saw the events that transpired during the Civil Rights Movement. I was shocked to find out that Zagrowsky was discriminatory towards another minority group that had it worse in America than the Jews. While Jewish people faced Anti-Semitism and xenophobia, the African American community was literally born out of slavery based solely on race. Historically, the Jews were enslaved as well, but as part of a neighboring country’s conquest, not only because of the color of the Jewish people’s skin, or any of their physical characteristics. Puley keeps us sympathetic of Zagrowsky by showing us his human side before his past racist actions.
I thought it was a very interesting move to make Cissy, Zagrowsky’s daughter, so different than what was expected of a Jewish girl. Zagrowsky describes Faith and the other women as he remembers them when the Civil Rights Movement was taking place, as young single mothers. His daughter also becomes one, and the mother to a child of mixed ethnicities. This showed me that Zagrowsky is perhaps more ignorant or unsympathetic than discriminatory. One would think that a person from a tradition of being discriminated against would recognize that behavior, and act against it rather than accept it as the norm. Zagrowsky makes fun of his wife for assimilating because she says, “ai” instead of “oi”. However, he adopted whatever convenient cause came across his path to fit in, and be seen as a good shopkeeper to his White American customers.
The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen portrays the story of a single, working-class mother, and the trials she overcomes while raising her child. I enjoyed the piece and the process the author used of piecing together the mother’s history. It is a very relative story that shows a familiar situation of the process of raising a first child. We learn early that the family is poor and dependent on a single income. Emily’s mother was abandoned by her husband because he did not care to “sharing want with us.” (Favorite line of the work) We then follow the misguided path taken by the mother to raise Emily. Emily’s mother was desperate for support and ways to make Emily’s childhood better. Olsen, depicts a strong bond between the mother and Emily, much greater than that between her other children. I understand that the amount of time and devotion dedicated to the first child is enormous because it is the initial experience of parenthood. We later find her second child Susan, who does not share the same connection with the mother. The same attachment is not shared because she had Emily’s and her second husband’s support during Susan’s early years. I do feel bad for Emily’s mother and her misguided decision to send her child to convalescent; I believe that she should have known better. First of all, she has raised her through the most difficult years of childhood, the years where a child needs constant attention. She should have known the importance of a parent in those growing years of life, where a child absorbs so much from a parent. Also, when the institution does not allow her to hold letters or any form of memorabilia from her home she should have know that it was not the best place for Emily. I don’t understand how it took eight months to have her “released” from the institution, or why the social worker needed convincing. If Emily was not eating or cooperating due to the lack of her parents then why did they have to repeatedly attempt to pull her out, the institution should of know it would be best to send her back with her mother. Either way, the author looks back on it with regret and innocence, showing the amount of emotion involved during the development of a first child. In all, I enjoyed the piece, felt for the mother, but feel that she should have acted on her beliefs to save Emily from the predicament with the institution. I enjoyed the flashback style of writing employed by Olsen, but wish that she would have went back to the present situation at the school. (I was not in class on Monday during the discussion, so if anything is completely off please disregard)
In I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen I really connected with the role of the mother and how she felt guilty over not being a perfect mother to Emily. She seemed to have all these roles forced on her by the Jewish community like raising the children, working, and being a house wife and that is what defined her. She had all these roles to play and as many people feel, can't seem to completely fulfill any of them perfectly. She has this overwhelming guilt that she didn't raise Emily properly although she did the best that she could. I think that most Jewish women in this time had excessive responsibilities that it was likely that something's were just going to go unnoticed. Also during the story the mother does nothing for herself as she irons and changes the baby's diaper, this shows that jewish women and perhaps a lot women in this time were not supposed to"here there calling" if all they are doing is listening for the child's cries. The mother is definitely a victim of circumstance and feels guilty that she could never give her children everything so that they could be successful. She clearly feels remorse for being more emotionally disconnected from Emily because she sent Emily to nursery school and sent her away for care when she was sick. She feels her disconnection and lack of emotional encounters with Emily has had some adverse affect on Emily. Which leads her to fail to realize Emily's love for comedic acting, which she is surprised to hear that emily loves and is good at. The mother gives herself no slack though, which seems to be a common for Jewish women to not give themselves a break, even though she is impoverished and at times was a single mother. The mother continues to make herself feel like she is totally responsible for Emily and that the other children were at a better advantage because she learned from her mistakes with Emily and now is able to give her other children the emotional support that they desire. I think this all correlates with the Jewish American women of this depressed time because there was no time to fulfill any of your dreams, but rather marry and have children and lose more of there identity. Not only for Jewish women though but for women at this time who were of lower class who became stripped of any passion and romance in their lives which is a common thread between the stories we have read thus far.
Vanessa Previl
ReplyDeleteWhen I first began to read Zagrowsky Tells, I was a little bit lost. Actually I had to reread certain parts over again and had to play it in my head to try to get the feel of this story and what I believe to be the purpose. What jumped out to me was how now, not only is this writing about the transformation of old world into new world but is now moving towards the transition of the mixture of race and it’s fight for acceptance – which is also new for those in the new world. As Zagrowsky, explains his “tell” it seems that his wife, Nettie, and their two sons had shifted into the American culture willing while he lingers and tries to hold to his own traditions. Zagrowsky was a successful Pharmacist who happened to be racist towards those who were colored but would not admit to it. Either way, it was pointed out by a few women who made it known to the community. This exposure contributed to almost destroying his work, along with the sickness of his daughter Cissy. But it’s funny and a little ironic to me how Zagrowsky who was racist would end up with a color grandson, Emanuel, who now is stuck like glue to him. Like it or not Zagrowsky had to accept Emanuel to keep the peace with Cissy and to not be the death of her. I believe this helped Zagrowsky a little to accept those who are colored and is probably why now he won’t admit that he was racist. It’s also interesting how it’s Cissy, the sick child, who caused her father to attempt to change with the new world – which he did a little, he did not show any hatred toward Emanuel but thought the colored people who lived in his apartment where snobbish. I can see that race was not an open topic. When Zagrowsky brought Emanuel to the Itialian side, they merely acknowledge him and then acts as if he did not even exist. But at the end of it all Zagrowsky did consider Emanuel as a friend. What I can’t wrap my head around is near the ending of the story when the man with the strapped baby came up to talk to him and the women ran him off. I don’t see why the females attacked him, Zagrowsky had already ran him off and it’s not like the man was persisting with bothering him any longer.
I agree with you about the story being a little confusing because I also had to reread a few lines because the dialogue is very quick and it shifts between characters fast. When it comes to Zagrowsky, I feel as though he is the perfectly ironic character in two ways. The first is that he is Jewish, a people who have been descriminated against for their entire existance, yet he is racist towards black people, making him just as bad. The second way being that he is racist towards black people, and yet ends up with a black grandson who loves him very much. I think the author wanted to give the readers a reason to hate Zagrowsky as well as a reason to root for him because aside from being a little grumpy, he really isnt a bad person.
DeleteAbout the part at the end with the ladies runnig off the other genleman. I believe this happens because of Zagrowsky's conversation with Faith. During the conversation I think that Faith really sees a good side in Zagrowsky and feels bad for leading the charge against him and his pharmacy. Ithink that warding off the man was a way for Faith to show Zagrowsky that she and the other women have his back.
I also agree that Zagrowsky Tells was an extremely difficult piece to read and follow. I had to reread so many lines due to the fact that the text really never showed dialogue shifts and at times I found myself very confused to who was actually speaking. Zagrowsky is probably one of the most ironic characters I have encountered as well. The fact that people thought he was racist and yet ended up with a black grandson is just the ultimate “F You, change your ways” coming from G-d. I felt that the whole purpose of the woman Faith was to further show how the image of som people could be changed. Just as Zagrowsky’s image of colored people changed, Faith in turn changes the way she thinks about Zagrowsky when she sees how his perception of those who are different has altered.
DeleteI also feel that Zagrowsky may still have been a little racist towards the end, but just like the rest of America around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, they all had to start breaking racism somewhere. Whether it was to heal Cissy or to just start moving along with the way things were starting to move, Zagrowsky’s racism eventually began to falter and diminish because of his love for Emanuel.
Justin Huntman
DeleteI agree that the story Zagrowsky Tells by Grace Paley really is a very confusing piece to read. From very early on in the story you are confused who is speaking in the piece. It seems to me that in the beginning the story is truly lacking in transitions. I also found my self re reading passages multiple times in order to get a clear understanding of what was being said in the passage and who was saying it. I also found it a problem for how long it took with all the re reading to get a good understanding of who each character is. The characters are described early on in the story but the relation to one another is very confusing and hard to follow, which goes along with the problem of trying to figure out who is even speaking in certain parts of the story. I do feel that the story is great and the irony in the story makes reading it somewhat humorous but, with the fact of having to reread it a few different times just to understand what is going on means you loose part of the story. While the story was good I would agree that because of the hard to follow writing style this story is painful to get threw.
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ReplyDeleteTillie Olsens' "I stand her ironing" was for the most part a fun difficult read for me. I wasn't used to reading a story like this that required me to really pull pieces together. The way the author wrote this story I had a lot of questions about. Throughout the reading I was constantly always having a question that wasn't being answered or having a thought about something that would shortly be answered. A question that I constantly had in my mind was why the mother was standing ironing thought the entire story of her remembering how her daughter life was growing up. Another question I had was why the author made that the title of the story. Was it that big of a part of the story? Or was it something beyond the main point that the reader was suppose to understand? After re-reading the story as a second time I came up with a couple of theories. One reason I thought is because the author wanted the reader to see how busy the mother actually was. That the mother didn't have time just to sit back and think and relax, that there was always something that was needed to be done by her. Or another reason I thought was because the author wanted the reader to relate to the mother in the sense of her thinking and reminiscing about something why she does a task that is repetitive. For example, like when I paint my nails, it is a task that needs my attention but not to the point where I'm not thinking about anything else, it still allows me to think and remember certain things.
ReplyDeleteSomething I enjoyed about the story was the daughter, Emily, the way the author made her life out to be. It was interesting to hear about how the daughter went from colorful happy to being more depressed and to her self then back to being happy. It was good to hear the story as the mother told it because it sounded like I could hear the mother telling the story and explaining her life. I could picture it easily. You can easily see how the daughter feels about her life throughout the story and understand why she was the way she was. I overall enjoyed the story and found it to be a fun read!
Kayleigh Koskan
DeleteI agree with Stephanie in that it was a fun yet difficult read. I like that the narrator was flashing back over her daughters’ entire life, it gave us all a good background on where she was coming from. It was difficult in the fact that there were a lot of unanswered questions like why they made such a big deal out of the mother spending the whole time ironing as Stephanie had said. After re-reading the story I’m still unsure of the symbolism with that. The mother spending the whole story ironing has to mean something seeing as it is the title of the story. I too thought the transition Emily had gone through was interesting. At first she was this bright eyed, happy girl and then she became closed off and kept to herself, then back again to a happy girl. I think this was due partly to the fact that she was always moving from place to place that she eventually just stopped letting people in because she did not want to become attached to them only to move somewhere new. Once she was stable back with her mother for good she was happy again. Another reason for this could be the fact that all her life she was treated poorly by her mentors and told things like she was stupid or she can’t love people but then once she got involved with acting she was praised for it being asked to perform for many events and told how great she was; it brought her self-esteem back up.
Alex Dishman
DeleteI have to agree with Stephanie that I don’t understand the symbolism of the ironing board and the mother ironing. I feel like something else could have been used to represent whatever it represents and that the author should have been more clear about what it was representing. I agree with the theory that maybe the author’s purpose was to show how busy the mother actually was and that she was always doing something since Emily’s birth. I think that a big theme emphasized in the story was in fact that the mother was so busy all the time and that her busyness was reflective in Emily’s character. I also enjoyed the character of Emily as well. I thought she was a very well shaped character and you could tell that her upbringing resulted in who she was. I think that the author made it very clear that the fact that Emily never had a steady home was reflected in her inability to accept herself and resulted in the decisions she made in her own life (i.e. acting to pretend to be someone she isn’t). I agree that the author did a good job of portraying Emily’s shift in personalities and that you could really sympathize with the mother’s guilty emotions.
Stephanie Jones
DeleteStephanie, I think you bring up a few excellent points here. I most definitely found Olsen’s style to be a bit unique; it was very choppy and scatterbrained. However, it grabbed my attention and made me want to read even more. Furthermore, I found Olsen’s style of writing to be a bit of a symbol as to how busy and hectic the mother’s life seems to be in the story. It was very believable to me that the mother was the narrator in the story, because the writing tended to be a bit messy, much like her life. She has so much to worry about that she cannot seem to focus on really structuring her story-telling.
Another thing I found very interesting about the story “I Stand Here Ironing” was the way in which the mother’s life and Emily’s life paralleled with one another. I noticed that in the beginning of the story, the mother mentioned that Emily was now 19 years old, then went on to say that she herself was only 19 when she had Emily. To me, that was a way of foreshadowing the fact that Emily’s life seemed to follow in the messy footsteps of her mother’s. There is such a sense of irony in this story, because the mother puts so much emphasis on trying to raise Emily in the most perfect way that she can, when in fact Emily ends up being the most screwed up of them all.
Kyndall Herman
DeleteLike Stephanie I was also very puzzled by the fact that the mother was standing there ironing the entire story. It made me curious as to whom she was telling the story to- I had originally thought someone was actually standing there in front of her the entire time. I also think that a possible reason why she could have been standing there the whole time, flashing back to the present tense of her ironing, is showing that although through out the flashback on Emily, the mother had gone through a tough struggle too. She said she had Emily at nineteen, and then struggled to find work right away. The constant ironing shows how she has never really had a moment since to slow down. I think that since it mentions that she had Emily at nineteen and Emily herself is now nineteen is directly related. I think the mom is looking at Emily sort of as herself, a young girl with a lot of potential, and since she is doing so well with her acting, she doesn’t want to see her throw that all away by say getting knocked up.
I agree with Stephanie on the short story, “I stand here ironing”, being a difficult read. I don’t agree on fun read, but the short story did have its interesting moments. For example when the child went off to the school/ clinic, how the program wasn’t really affectionate and was just making Emily worse; after the people at the hospital told the mother that it would be a great place for the child.
DeleteI also agree with the short story leaving a lot of unanswered questions, the narrator wasn’t a reliable source. Unless the mother wasn’t all there, like her daughter Emily, I also didn’t understand why she was ironing the entire story. And why it had such an impact on the story and title. I believe maybe the author was trying to use it as symbolization, but I don’t understand what it symbolized. The ironing could’ve shown us that the mother was a hardworking stay at home mother, who didn’t stop her task even when there was company there. I agree with Stephanie theory and the nail painting, that is a task that needs your full attention but can also leaving your mind wandering.
I also enjoyed Emily’s character because the narrator illustrated her very well. We knew how she acted, her personality, what she looked like, etc. I didn’t enjoy the fact that the mother was not allowing Emily to grow as a young adult. I felt that the mother babied her and fed her a silver spoon throughout the story. I don’t know if the reason for that was because she felt responsible for how Emily acted. And because of her being a teenage mother, she wasn’t always there for Emily and she was trying to make up for it.
I agree with stephanie, this story is a hard read at first, but after re-reading the story gets easier. The story had plenty of interesting moments, one in which is the whole thing (with a few exceptions)takes place within the mothers head. I like how the author has her doing her daily routine but having the thought of how she raised her daughter and the guilt of how she did it nagging in her head. It leads me to believe that maybe the mother is not all there or maybe is scatterbrained from having to raise two kids work a bunch of jobs and still being young, maybe she is just worn to the point of breaking. Her realtionship with Emily is strained at best, but even through all of the Hell they go through one can see that the mother still has the bond that only a parent can share with a child. Even as Emily grew up and started to become an adult the reader can see the mother is still a little confused on how to treat her, she raised emily by the book and tried as a young mother but it didnt work out. So after Emily starts to become an adult, the mother is still trying to raise her by the book. By doing this she is babying her to no end which pushes Emily away. I htink the story is one about growing up and dealing with the decisions you made in your life and owing up to them in the end. I enjoyed this story very much, a good read.
DeleteNatalie Palmer
ReplyDeleteBefore I read I Stand Here Ironing , I was at first unexcited to read the story. I expected to have to read some overly wordy story about relating ironing to the Jewish plight. When the first line of the story came out at me, I braced myself for a boring, metaphoric story that I couldn't relate to.
As I read the first and second paragraphs, I became confused. Why is the author addressing this "you?" Is she talking to the audience or someone from her memory?
After I got past the first two paragraphs, I felt my suspicions to be correct about the story. It was a mundane activity paired with an aspect of someone else's life I had no interest in reading about. I felt her characters to be weak and confusing, even Emily's character was so bipolar that I couldn't really feel moved when she lost her innocence throughout the narration. I found myself skimming in certain parts, skipping over lines that held little meaning for me.
But this all changed when I came to class on Monday. I feel like the sessions in class always open up my mind more and give me a more detailed explanation so that it makes sense to me. This happened when we began discussing Emily.
Many short stories feature the "three part" circle. I especially enjoy these because they are similar to how life works. Our emotions of depression and happiness flutter around constantly because that is the way of the human. Emily's circle, albeit odd, did come to make sense. I found myself thinking when she was sent to the wellness building, "Yes, I might feel the same way had I had to leave home to live in a strange, foreign place to me." Her mounting depression was something I could relate to and I found myself slowly warming up to her character. I still don't like the fact that she did comedy. While she was depressed and overall a grey character, it felt as if out of nowhere that comedy became her salvation. I believe her mother would agree with me that it was unexpected of Emily to pursue such a hobby. It felt out of tune with her character.
I had to go back home and re-read the story because I felt I at least owed it that. This time around, the first line of the story didn't daunt me, but instead made me open my mind to this woman trying to tell us about something important to her.
Honestly, I'm just glad Emily found her happiness. I didn't like every aspect of this story, but I gained an appreciation of both Emily and her mother by the end. when she is ironing Emily's dress, I found symbolism there. I found her trying to even out Emily's life, take out all the wrinkles, in the only way she knew how.
I did ask myself at one point, "Where is the Judaism?"What makes a story "Jewish?" Is it the fact that it was written by a Jew, or the fact that it contains Jewish content? I wish this story collaborated more of the Jewish experience other than Emily's looks, with her thin frame and dark hair. That wasn't enough for me, so I wish there had been more.
My rating when I first read the story: 2/10
My rating of this story now: 6/10
I chose to reply to your response right when you mention the "three part" circle. This is the feature that kept jumping out at me in the story, and it made it seem like there was nothing else I should be focusing on because, like you said, the characters where pretty timid. I still feel like I don't have an actual bond with the characters like I normally do in stories like these ones where children are separated from their parents at a young age. I believe that the reasoning for this distance between some readers and the story is consequently due to the fact that majority of the story is flashback; I feel it's hard to get to know a character inside and out when there is not much dialogue or when the piece is structured around one character's feelings. Moving in the direction of Emily's comedic career, I was also taken aback when I first read that she was acting, and making people laugh, for that matter. I wish there would have been some foreshadowing in the beginning of the piece to at least derive the idea from somewhere. When we go over the pieces in class, I usually always go back and reread them, because everyone's different outlooks just really make things pop out at me that I never thought about. I, on the contrary, reread the story and liked it even less than I did the first time. The piece overall is obviously written very well, and I like a lot of elements of it, but once we discussed more the character's personalities and such in class, I just feel terribly depressed for the first three-quarters of the piece. Not a bad story by any means, I just was not in the mood to read and discuss something that was majority so saddening.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCristina Vallarino
ReplyDeleteWhen I began reading “ Tell me a Riddle” by Tillie Olsen, I did not understood what the story was about. The beginning was confusing and it was hard for me to understand. As the story developed I understood that this was a mother telling the story of her daughter. Someone asked her how could he or she help Emily and the mother was reminiscing about all her life. She remembered the first years of Emily and how hard was her childhood, Emily was a caring baby but at the same time she was a difficult baby. We can see the mood of the mom about how hard some years in her life had been and how much she had suffered. For example when she was send away because of her eating disorders and they did not let her have any contact with her parents and could not show the love she felt for them. We could see that the mother picture her as a good girl, very loving and caring. She was always thinking about her brothers and sisters and even though she felt different, because she was different. Even when she was not feeling good and was sick she will never complained to her mom, and we can see how the mom regret many things she felt she had done wrong and tried to change that behaviors with her new kids.
This being a jewish literature class what I founded interesting is that even though the mother said a lot of details about her daughter life, we never see any aspect of jewish religion through the story. Also the way the short story was written was totally different from what we have been reading through the semester. I believe that this was a more personal story, the mother sharing all the personal details about their life together and opening her emotions to what she believed she had done wrong. The things she wished she had done different with Emily, knowing that she was such a great kids. How much she regretted being poor and not able to give her family everything she would have wanted to give them. We were in direct contact with the mother, did not have a different person from the outside telling the story like in other ones, she was personally talking and this made us closer to what the writer wanted to talked to us about and how she wanted us to feel about her narrative.
Devin Harkins
DeleteYes throughout this entire piece the mom discussed how much she regrets the way she treated Emily and how she feels pity for her daughter. The mother was always too busy working and making money so she could take care of her children that she didn't give Emily the attention that she needed and desperately craved. Emily is like a wild animal, free, lively, and thriving, but when she was put in all of these stressful and love-less situations she became somber and numb emotionally. The mother didn't realize that she was killing Emily's spirit until it was too late. It is not clear why Emily was always selfless as a child, I think the author made the character act that way to show that she isn't average, she is something special to be marveled at but her environment wouldn't allow it. Although you are right, there wasn't any religion in this story I think this story is trying to portray they social aspect of the Jewish culture. Jews are like the Character Emily, at first she tries to be herself but people frown upon her(Jewish lifestyles) so she tries to fit in with everyone else (assimilation) but yet people still shun her, so it's as if she has no place in this world where she(Jews) belongs. I think this story had more to do with the social perspective than religious and how its a constant tug of war to fit in or be yourself.
Desiree Amadeo
DeleteCristina, I'm not sure I understand your assertions about the reading. I saw many ties between it and the other literary selections we’ve read. While the narrator is slightly more intimate with the audience, it’s not the first time we’ve encountered a writing that features a narrator simply recounting prior events and commenting on their current state. Examples that surface are How I Found America, The Shawl, and even In Dreams Begin Responsibility, even if the last option is less realistic. What seems to be a point of cohesion the other readings, in my opinion, is the sense of regret that surfaces, and the way she is seemingly caught up in former events that have continued to plague her. Clearly these events are very significant to her and there is no inclination this priority will budge. In regards to her not mentioning Judaism, this is also not the first time we’ve encountered a lack of direct reference in the readings, so I’m not clear on why this stood out to you. In Dreams Begin Responsibility held no direct mention of the Jewish religion or culture, either. This is a significant factor, though, seeing as it references the basis of our class – exploring what exactly is Jewish-American literature and what elements of it serve as definitive boundaries by which we can determine inclusion.
Maggie McCloskey
ReplyDeleteFor Zagrowsky Tells, by Grace Paley, I was right away confused from the begining. It was hard to distinguish the dialogue from what the narrator was thinking and what was actually going on in the story. I found myself having to reread many passages in the text. The story seems to take place after or during the Civil Rights era. The narrator, Zagrowsky talks a lot and when he is not talking, he is constanttly thinking about something. Actually it seems like there is little current action and a lot of him just talking. At one point he even says that he is not particularly fond of Faith, but he keeps talking because he "has to tell the whole story." So there is this interesting element of talking and telling one's story. At the end talking is brought up again and he says "everybody got something to say to the next guy." I think that, like Iz, everyone wants to tell their story at least once. Then the story goes full circle, with the man asking Iz about Emanuel and Iz snapping at him that he was not going to tell this guy his whole life story even though that was what he exactly did with Faith only moments before.
The narrator is also, in my opinion, very unlikable. He clearly has strong opinions on race and women. But like Faith, I did feel a little bad for him for all the turmoil he went through. But then he either says or thinks a remark that zaps what pity I had felt for him before.
In the story I also found familiar themes as with the previous stories. The biggest I think is the tension between Jewish parents and their children. The narrator does not really hide what he thinks. So when Cissy his daughter is pregnant she made sure to let him know that the father was African American. What is interesting though is that despite his strong racist opinions, it is clear that he really loves his grandchild Emmanuel. Another theme I found was religion. Even the woman he was talking to was named Faith and one of the first ways he described her was that "she gives me a look like God in judgement." It is also interesting that Cissy named her baby Emanuel. There is also a part where Iz messes up a fact about Abraham and Faith has to correct him. Overall I really do not know how I feel about the story. At times it was confusing and the narrator was not very likable. The only times that I found that I really only liked him was when he was with Emanuel.
Maggie, I thought you finding themes in Zagrowsky Tells by comparing the story to previous passages was very smart. It is not something I have made a conscious effort to do but find that it is indeed helpful, so thank you for helping me realize that.
DeleteAs for your thoughts on the passage, I think most can agree that this was a confusing and difficult read. Though Olsen also made it challenging to distinguish between thought and what was actually said, at least she used proper punctuation with quotation marks! As you said, most of the story is Iz thinking his thoughts, so when that present action does come and there is dialogue, it takes a moment to realize that’s where you are and by the time you do realize it, he’s back to just thinking again. And then there were the flashbacks where he was narrating a story but sometimes he was in the present narrating it and others he was just “thinking” it, explaining the background information for the reader. Because of this, I felt this almost scatter-brained tone as I read. Like the story is just one long stream of consciousness from Iz.
I noticed the reoccurring “having to tell my whole story” point as well, though I’m not exactly sure what the significance of it is. Obviously Paley had to have a reason for bringing it back up but I didn’t catch it. Needless to say, this was my least favorite piece thus far. I don’t like to be confused when I read, it’s that simple.
Hailey Dolan
I found "I stand here ironing" to a confusing read. This may be, however, on purpose by the author. The whole story is told by the mother's thoughts as she irons a dress. I found it interesting that the author choose to have the story told while she performed this choir. My mother and I know that others as well will bake or clean when they are nervous. This may be how the mother in the story chooses to deal with the stress related to her daughter. Her thoughts are worrisome and sporadic. The way it is ridden, from one thought to another, in such an almost in-complete way conveys this sense of quick nervous thinking to the reader. There are two parts to the story that really stood out to and didn't seem to belong. The first is when Emily says "in a couple of years when we’ll all be atom‐dead they won’t matter a bit". I didn't understand what this part had to contribute to the story, as I thought at this point she had found happiness. The next part of the story that didn't seem to fit was her role as a comedian. Why would someone so sad enjoy making other people? It just didn't fit together for me. As for the story as a whole though I found it to be very powerful. As I read I felt the great level of love that the mother had for her child. A lot of this is because of the point of the view that the story is told from. This is why the ending was so disappointing to me. To me what the mother seemed to be saying is that she was accepting that Emily would never become anything special. "She has much in her and probably nothing will come of it" tells me that she thinks she could be more. Why doesn't she believe in her children more than just accepting a dull life for her?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would not have guessed that this piece is American-Jewish literature. To me any references or Jewish culture in the story was not found. All the other stories so far have had a very strong Jewish presence in them. So much in fact that you'd have to blind to miss it. I do not understand how this piece fits and contributes to the genre.
Although some parts were confusing to me, I still found this to be a fun read and one of the more enjoyable stories of this class so far.
After reading “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen I find myself at a bit of a crossroad regarding the narrator. I do not know if I should regard her as a bad mother or a mother who was just placed in the wrong situations. While most stories with the similar plot line of a single mother who must take care of the family depicts the mother as the strong, loving, and nurturing keystone of the family, this story however flips those ideals on their head. It was a bit of a shock to read a story about a mother who is not conveyed as the shining “good guy.” The mother wants with all her might to care and love for her daughter Emily, but due to the Great Depression she finds herself overwhelmed at times and therefore cannot be that loving and nurturing figure we all expect a mother to be. So while the mother makes sacrifices to keep her family together, she also at the same time finds herself drifting emotionally further and further apart from her children. While I can applaud the narrator for being willing to make sacrifices for her family in the past, I cannot forgive her for her lack of encouragement of Emily’s comedic pursuits. Although she lacks the money and knowledge to further Emily’s acting, I got the feeling that the narrator was not fully supportive of the talent Emily possessed. Just as she ignores her talent the mother ignored most of her daughter’s problems throughout her life, almost hoping they would correct themselves over time. I believe the greatest gift the narrator could have given Emily was providing a different or better life for her child, but it seems that she has given up hope of accomplishing that for her.
ReplyDeleteWhile the narrator is neither abusive nor intentionally neglectful to her children, there always seems to be a distance between her and her children, at least her first born Emily. The narrator is unable to establish direct contact with Emily throughout her life and for that reason really does not understand Emily or the problems she has. The narrator when thinking back on Emily’s time in the convalescent home even refers to an “invisible wall” that divides them both then and now. The narrator no more understands Emily than the teacher or counselor who requests the mother’s presence at the meeting that the story begins with.
This story is really brilliant in the way that it challenges you to think what attributes make up a good mother. While the mother does everything thing she can to physically care for her daughter’s needs, it only serves to push her emotionally further away. Instead of presenting the nurturing role model mothers are expected to be, Olsen gives us a mother who obsesses about the harsh realities of family life. So can the narrator be considered a mother who is emotionally neglectful or a mother who was too busy with her motherly duties to nurture her children appropriately?
The story “I Stand Here Ironing” had some conflicting points for me as well. My outlook was that the mother’s love for her child was expressed the entire time and it was up to the reader to assess if the motherly role was a good one or not. The mother reminds me of present day single parents to some extent. She had to work long hours and her daughter had to go to day care. Today many working parents have to send their children to day care and summer camps in order to work enough hours to put food on their tables. I found it somewhat annoying how the author wrote the story in mostly flashback. I wish I had been able to get to know the narrator, mother, better instead of the story panning from her view of telling the life story of how she raised the daughter. The reader does not have much of an emotional connection with the mother. Lastly, I didn’t find a true connection with this story and how it tied into Jewish American Literature. It didn’t truly parallel any of the previous stories we have read thus far in regards to the religious ties or history to the Jewish faith or Jewish community.
DeleteI didn’t like that the story was written in flashback because I felt like I couldn’t make a strong connection with the characters. However, I agree with your assessment of the narrator. Usually single mothers are portrayed as perfect, loving beings who serve as the glue that holds the family together. This is the complete opposite for the narrator. As much as she may want to be this figure in Emily’s life, she simply does not seem to have the capacity for it. She plays the role of a traditional single mother, working full time in order to provide for her family and shouldering Emily off to daycare during the day or at night. She was only nineteen when Emily was born, so she didn’t have any idea how to raise a child. I feel like the narrator’s youth correlates with Emily’s upbringing, in that while the narrator makes mistakes and struggles her way through the turmoil of life, she in turn influences Emily to have the same outlook. Emily is a distant and unaffectionate child because her mother was distant and unaffectionate. Even when her mother realizes her mistake and tries to be close with Emily, she is pushed away because the distance is all that Emily has known.
Delete""Zagrowsky Tells" was a very confusing reading for me. It took me the first two or three pages until I figured out that Zagrowsky was the pharmacist grandfather of the half-black five-year-old running around. It took me equally as long to figure out who Cassie and Faith were. I was constantly wondering how Faith was so relevant to the story. Every time it almost focused on her Zagrowsky started talking about his story again.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about this story was that I feel like everybody knows somebody like Zagrowsky. He is a Jewish man whose heritage was once ridiculed by others just by his faith and now he is a racist sexist who not only was racist in the past, but also racist practicing his business, and STILL racist even though his own flesh and blood, his grandson, is half black. For example, Zagrowsky says, "All right. A person look~ at my Emanuel and says, Hey! He’s not altogether from the white race·, what's going on? I'll tell you what: life is going on. You have an opinion. I have an opinion. Life. Don’t have no opinion" I think this is such a hilarious line. He reminds me of those old grandpas who just say whatever comes to their mind and then immediately contradicts it which is exactly what he does. What bothers me is that he does not realize the own IRONY of this entire story. He is a hypocrite. Even Faith and her friends MOCK him at the end by giggling and mimicking the way he yells at people for questioning him, yet, he questions everyone's everything and demands everybody stay out of his business WHILE he tells his business.
The devices I'm noticing are the tone and the voice. The point-of-view is clearly Zagrowsky and his tone is very blunt, matter-of-fact, and to the point. He doesn't beat around the bush. I see a lot of irony in this story. That is clear. The dialog is conversational but it's hard to keep up. With out the he said she said style, its hard to differentiate what he's thinking, what he's saying, what he's thinking other people are thinking, or if they're actually saying it.
In comparison to other readings, this is the driest ironic comedy I have ever read. I also think it may be the most present. It says that people to change, situations do. Although his religion was hated upon, he did the same thing to others. This story is about race, feminism, religion, and class all at the same time. He mentions things about lowering the standard of living by black people moving into his neighborhood, and he also mentions not wanting to lower his standing of living to accommodate Emmanuel.
Danielle Kaufman
ReplyDeleteI had many conflicting feelings after reading “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen. In the beginning of the story I thought the mother (the narrator) was cold-hearted and twisted. She talked about her daughter like she was the ultimate disappointment, even at such a young age. However as I continued to read the story I could see the immense amount of love the mother had for Emily. I find it ironic that in the beginning of the story Emily’s mother says “You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” The narrator tells the person on the phone that she really doesn’t know all that much about her daughter. However when she reflects back on Emily’s life it seems that her mother has a lot of insight about Emily. Her analysis of Emily as a child is very in depth and it appears that her mother knows more about Emily than anyone else. I found the narrator’s detailed insight of her daughter to be endearing and heartfelt. The reader can tell that this is a subject the narrator has spent a lot of time thinking about.
I found it incredibly sad how the narrator put a lot of Emily’s struggle on herself. “Or I will become engulfed with all I did or did not do, with what should have been and what cannot be helped.” I think she blames herself for not giving Emily everything that she could and everything that she gave her other children. The narrator has a lot of remorse that she couldn’t always be there for Emily and she believes this is a main reason why Emily wasn’t a “normal” child.
I really loved when the narrator talks about Emily’s passion for comedy. The way she describes how Emily comes alive in front of an audience is truly beautiful and touching. I would say I’m a sucker for a happy ending and I think it left the reader satisfied that Emily found her calling in the end. “I Stand Here Ironing” is definitely my favorite story I have read so far in this class. That pure love that emanates from a mother-daughter bond like the one described in the story was inspiring and touching. It wasn’t a sugar-coated fairy tale, but a real life relationship with hardships and complexity. Because of this aspect, I think the story was more relatable and enjoyable.
Chynna Humphrey
Delete“I Stand Here Ironing” was an excellent read, in my opinion, about the hardships of motherhood and the guilt that this mother felt in the absence of her child during her earliest years. I felt the same way as Danielle in that I read the first page and thought that this mother was not a good person and perhaps apathetic towards her family because she begins the story stating that she does not know as much as she would like to know about her daughter. However, as the story progresses, it becomes evident to the reader that the mother’s absence in Emily’s life was because of her yearning to work hard and give her daughter a better life, as there was no father present at the time. It was her dedication to being a good mother that caused her to leave Emily with her father’s family and send her to a school that she did not care to go to. If the two of them were to survive, she had no other choice. In her relaying the story to us, as the readers, we are able to see the guilt Emily’s mother felt in doing this. She is aware of the fact that her other children received more attention and loving than Emily and she feels horrible about it. This theme of guilt resonates throughout the entire story.
Ginny Renas
ReplyDeleteThe story I wanted to discuss this week is “Zagrowsky Tells”. Compared to the other stories, I think this one is my favorite so far. I absolutely loved how well developed, smart, and witty Iz is. The fist observation that really got me into the story is when Iz makes the comment on his grandson closing his eyes when asked to speak. The story reads, “Did you ever notice children get all mixed up. They don’t want t hear about something, they squinch up their eyes. Many children do this”. This description was so concrete and visually appealing to pretty much anyone who has had an interaction with a child around Emanuel’s age. He is so well aware of his surroundings and makes comments throughout the story to gain trust in his knowledge. When commenting on Faith’s sarcastic reaction when they first start talking about medicine, he says, “How do I know this? Years in a store. You observe. You watch. The customer is always right, but plenty of times you know he’s wrong and also a goddman fool”. His tone feels so matter-of-fact and I gradually became mesmerized by his knowledge, ideas, and educated sarcasm. After he recalls Faiths name, Iz goes into great detail about how he helped her child Richie. I was a little confused the message he was trying to send across because he can’t even remember this woman’s name, yet he recalls what floor she lived on, the temperature of her child, and details about her husband? Did he really not know her name and was toying with her? This part confused me. The next paragraph he explains how his mind has a mind of its own and he can’t control this, but it still didn’t clear up exactly why this part of his personality was important/necessary. Another part I loved shined on Iz’s wisdom. In reference to Emanuel not being white and people wondering what’s going on, he says, “I’ll tell you what: life is going on. You have an opinion. I have an opinion. Life don’t have no opinion”. Regardless of what anyone may think about how his grandson came to be and by what two people, the fact of the matter is, he is alive and part of this life. This was my favorite part of the story. Even though Iz had his own opinions, he was wise enough to admit that his opinion on who his daughter should and shouldn’t have a child with was never going to change the reality that he wasn’t all white, and that he should still find a way to love him.
In Tillie Olsen’s I Stand Here Ironing I expected to read some metaphorical comparison between ironing and the Jewish assimilation and struggle into America during the 1930’s but was pleased it had much more personal and humanized themes within the story. Once I began reading I found the beginning of the story, the “you” Olsen uses makes the narrator address the reader strikingly bold, and compelling. From the very start I’m totally intrigued to find out who the narrator really wants to say this to. The fact that at the end I was still left with only an idea as to who the narrator was addressing, as oppose to a concrete answer to the initial doubts was sort of frustrating, but I think it adds to the tone of the story. The narrator seems to have a lot of regrets, frustrations, and self guilt toward her efforts and the rearing of her children, mainly her first born, Emily. These regrets mainly revolve around the fact that she had to always work hard laborious jobs to make ends meet, and this was the situation for many Jews in America during this time. However I feel that is only the surface layer to a greater question and struggle with identity within the Jewish community, in being Jewish, American or a mixture of both especially within women. I see this constantly being address in the physical contrasts mentioned among Emily and Susan and between the beauty standard of that time, Shirley Temple. The fact that all this is mentioned from the point of view of their mother also allures to the fact that she herself has doubts about her ability to be “glib or quick”, her perseverance, and how this has reflected upon her offspring. Almost the whole story takes place within the narrator’s head, or so it seems, and this is directly to show the impotence the narrator and many Jews felt during this time of hardship; in the author choosing to set the speaker ironing throughout the whole time, to have her confined to labor in every aspect of the story in order to highlight the inescapable need to work always. So in other words, the story is about regrets that revolve around having to constantly be working and aspects of life that get neglected, and even as the story is evolving the same conflict persist. There is even an instance in which Emily makes a remark that brings to present time the issue of neglect, necessity, regret and guilt that have been persisting in the text. “Aren’t you ever going to finish the ironing, Mother?” She never finishes, the story ends and one is left to assume she is still ironing, and one is also left to assume that Emily will continue on her struggle even though she is a reservoir of potential that is stumped due to circumstantial adversities. The only thing that is left after the text is a lingering feeling of sad hope.
ReplyDeletePersonally I really enjoyed reading the short story "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen. I had never read a story highlighting such issues. Although, it is suppose to resonate within the Jewish community itself, since after all that's where it came from, it has a deeper meaning and methods of connecting to a larger audience. It is capable of surpassing the Jewish realm and allows for anyone whom is born from a woman (which means all of us) to connect to it, at least in that specific aspect of the story. As Lucy Macias shared, here we read about the struggles of motherhood especially during the Great Depression of the 1930's in America. We read about a mother who discusses the rearing of her first child, Emily. She speaks to a certain "you", and informs them what she did and did not do while raising her first child as oppose to the rest of her children. This train of thought was completely surprising to me, as well as incredibly interesting. Myself, an only child, I had never thought about a parents difference in rearing their children and it's impact on the guardian herself. For this specific reason, this has been my favorite story, opening up a world I was previously oblivious to. The voice that was created for this character was amazing, one is able to put oneself in the story and experience the guilt and ultimate resistance and understanding of why life turns out the way it does. Somewhat of a reflective piece it teaches one to expect the unexpected at times, since after all she lived in her short nineteen years, Emily was capable of making people laugh even though she herself "rarely smiled" as her mother informed the audience.
DeleteThrough complex discourse and sentimental memories, Grace Paley’s Zagrowsky Tells reveals the story of an elderly Jewish man, Iz, raising his mixed grandson in New York City. Although depicting extreme detail through his words and stories, to me, Iz became in a sense an unreliable narrator as the tale progressed. This fickle behavior is exposed through the other characters in the novel that are conversing with Iz throughout the passage. These dialogues reveal Iz’s relentless generalized stereotypes of the people around him, as well as his materialistic mindset.
ReplyDeleteIz is seemingly an extremely racist man, as Faith states, “Whenever [he] saw a couple walk past on the block , a black-and-white couple, [he] said, Ugh-disgusting! It shouldn’t be allowed!” (5). Instead of denying it, Iz responds matter-of-factly stating, “So? It’s a matter of taste” (5). In another scene when Iz and his wife, Nettie, are talking to the Doctor about Cissy’s situation, he brazenly yells, “No…I can’t stand it. I refuse. Out of my Cissy, who looked like a piece of gold would come a black child. The then the psychologist says, don’t be so bigoted. What nerve!” (7). He cannot come to terms with the fact that someone would have the audacity to tell him he should keep a black baby, from HIS perfect daughter. In comparing Cissy’s looks to a piece of gold, Iz shows how much he treasures the corporal appearance of those around him. Using physicality as a lens in which to judge those around him, Iz seems to view anyone that is not a Jewish man in a negative light.
Constantly putting a positive spin on himself, the reactions of the other characters in the novel reveal that Iz is exactly what he defensively claims not to be. He can’t understand why the women on his street picketed outside his house, even though Faith gives him countless examples of how he was racist to multiple customers, lamenting, “Faith, I still can’t figure it out why you girls were so mean to me” (5). This denial of the increasingly obvious truth leads me to doubt almost everything that is stated in the story, as Iz is telling the entire thing.
Evidently extremely misogynistic, Iz constantly generalizes the actions of all women as unconstructive or annoying. When Faith apparently questions his attitude, he responds by saying, “I called Mrs. Z a grizzly bear a few times. It’s my wife, no? That I was winking and blinking at the girls, a few pinches. A lie…maybe I patted, but I never pinched. Besides, I know for a fact a couple of them loved it” (6). Literally no matter what someone accuses him of, he always has a way of reasoning with himself to make sure that his behavior is merited or non-existent. The irony of this concept is that throughout the text, Iz reveals his true sentiments multiple times, referring to Faith and her friends as “those women”, constantly making racist remarks, etc. The fact that he is always denying his actions but has no qualms about immediately challenging them, once again proves the unreliability of his narration.
Isabel Willetts
ReplyDelete“Zagrowsky Tells” by Grace Puley is a very different look at Jewish communities than the previous texts we have read. The first thing that popped out to me was the syntax and actual construction of the story. It is told in first person from a very close narrator. Stream of consciousness is present in several places in the story, which I was not expecting from a cross-gender narrator. Puley pulls this off by using very conversational tone, as if the narrator is having a conversation with himself in his head. From what I’ve seen in movies or read in other books, this style of thinking and interacting is a common Jewish way to get one’s point across. I mean, consider the Talmud. This ancient text is literally thousands of years of the best minds arguing back and forth, back and forth across the ages. The way the narrator goes back and forth with himself, even saying things in his mind he does not say out loud to Faith in conversation, may reflect a Jewish tradition of conversation. However, since I am not Jewish and am only a little familiar with Jewish culture, I cannot say for sure.
The other point of major interest to me in the story was the different way Faith and Zagrowsky saw the events that transpired during the Civil Rights Movement. I was shocked to find out that Zagrowsky was discriminatory towards another minority group that had it worse in America than the Jews. While Jewish people faced Anti-Semitism and xenophobia, the African American community was literally born out of slavery based solely on race. Historically, the Jews were enslaved as well, but as part of a neighboring country’s conquest, not only because of the color of the Jewish people’s skin, or any of their physical characteristics. Puley keeps us sympathetic of Zagrowsky by showing us his human side before his past racist actions.
I thought it was a very interesting move to make Cissy, Zagrowsky’s daughter, so different than what was expected of a Jewish girl. Zagrowsky describes Faith and the other women as he remembers them when the Civil Rights Movement was taking place, as young single mothers. His daughter also becomes one, and the mother to a child of mixed ethnicities. This showed me that Zagrowsky is perhaps more ignorant or unsympathetic than discriminatory. One would think that a person from a tradition of being discriminated against would recognize that behavior, and act against it rather than accept it as the norm. Zagrowsky makes fun of his wife for assimilating because she says, “ai” instead of “oi”. However, he adopted whatever convenient cause came across his path to fit in, and be seen as a good shopkeeper to his White American customers.
Vishal Samuel
ReplyDeleteThe short story “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen portrays the story of a single, working-class mother, and the trials she overcomes while raising her child. I enjoyed the piece and the process the author used of piecing together the mother’s history. It is a very relative story that shows a familiar situation of the process of raising a first child. We learn early that the family is poor and dependent on a single income. Emily’s mother was abandoned by her husband because he did not care to “sharing want with us.” (Favorite line of the work) We then follow the misguided path taken by the mother to raise Emily. Emily’s mother was desperate for support and ways to make Emily’s childhood better. Olsen, depicts a strong bond between the mother and Emily, much greater than that between her other children. I understand that the amount of time and devotion dedicated to the first child is enormous because it is the initial experience of parenthood. We later find her second child Susan, who does not share the same connection with the mother. The same attachment is not shared because she had Emily’s and her second husband’s support during Susan’s early years. I do feel bad for Emily’s mother and her misguided decision to send her child to convalescent; I believe that she should have known better. First of all, she has raised her through the most difficult years of childhood, the years where a child needs constant attention. She should have known the importance of a parent in those growing years of life, where a child absorbs so much from a parent. Also, when the institution does not allow her to hold letters or any form of memorabilia from her home she should have know that it was not the best place for Emily. I don’t understand how it took eight months to have her “released” from the institution, or why the social worker needed convincing. If Emily was not eating or cooperating due to the lack of her parents then why did they have to repeatedly attempt to pull her out, the institution should of know it would be best to send her back with her mother. Either way, the author looks back on it with regret and innocence, showing the amount of emotion involved during the development of a first child. In all, I enjoyed the piece, felt for the mother, but feel that she should have acted on her beliefs to save Emily from the predicament with the institution. I enjoyed the flashback style of writing employed by Olsen, but wish that she would have went back to the present situation at the school. (I was not in class on Monday during the discussion, so if anything is completely off please disregard)
In I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen I really connected with the role of the mother and how she felt guilty over not being a perfect mother to Emily. She seemed to have all these roles forced on her by the Jewish community like raising the children, working, and being a house wife and that is what defined her. She had all these roles to play and as many people feel, can't seem to completely fulfill any of them perfectly. She has this overwhelming guilt that she didn't raise Emily properly although she did the best that she could. I think that most Jewish women in this time had excessive responsibilities that it was likely that something's were just going to go unnoticed. Also during the story the mother does nothing for herself as she irons and changes the baby's diaper, this shows that jewish women and perhaps a lot women in this time were not supposed to"here there calling" if all they are doing is listening for the child's cries. The mother is definitely a victim of circumstance and feels guilty that she could never give her children everything so that they could be successful. She clearly feels remorse for being more emotionally disconnected from Emily because she sent Emily to nursery school and sent her away for care when she was sick. She feels her disconnection and lack of emotional encounters with Emily has had some adverse affect on Emily. Which leads her to fail to realize Emily's love for comedic acting, which she is surprised to hear that emily loves and is good at. The mother gives herself no slack though, which seems to be a common for Jewish women to not give themselves a break, even though she is impoverished and at times was a single mother. The mother continues to make herself feel like she is totally responsible for Emily and that the other children were at a better advantage because she learned from her mistakes with Emily and now is able to give her other children the emotional support that they desire. I think this all correlates with the Jewish American women of this depressed time because there was no time to fulfill any of your dreams, but rather marry and have children and lose more of there identity. Not only for Jewish women though but for women at this time who were of lower class who became stripped of any passion and romance in their lives which is a common thread between the stories we have read thus far.
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