I Stand Here Ironing Analysis

Working has many positive and negative effects on a persons life. Working can change and influence a persons personality in many ways. Working is a necessity in life and depending on the job, can determine how that person acts in their daily lives. A paragraph from Tillie Olsen’s, “I Stand Here Ironing,” reads this, “After a while I found a job hashing at night so I could be with her days, and it was better. But it came to where I had to bring her to his family and leave her. It took a long time to raise the money for her fare back.” The narrator was explaining that she could not afford her child. This is a hard moment for any adult to face. After her husband left, she had to work nights to raise her child on her own. She could not handle it and had to give the child to her husband. Then she saved money until she could afford her. This character is devastated because she missed part of her child’s life and the baby is grown into a two year old student. She missed having a little baby. This shaped how the narrator acted for the rest of her life. Many people are in the same predicament.
A handful of chains have replaced them, with buying decisions made at the corporate level. Jobs which comfortably supported a family have been eliminated in favor of new ones paying so little employees are encouraged to apply for food stamps.” Big corporations take business from local businesses by offering cheaper services. These cheaper services are used to run out local businesses. Claudia’s quote is extremely true when she talks about jobs paying less and encouraging workers to apply for food stamps. Small businesses are being wiped out and causing workers to change their lifestyle to needing food stamps. Jobs can really affect every part of a person’s