I Stand Here Ironing Poverty Quotes Page 1
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| Quote #1 [...] I worked or looked for work and for Emily's father, who "could no longer endure" (he wrote in his good-bye note) "sharing want with us." (8) |
When Emily's father leaves, the narrator is placed in the difficult position of a single working mother.
| Quote #2 I was nineteen. It was the pre-relief, pre-WPA world of the depression. (9) |
This quote helps set up the historical context for the story. It opens during the Great Depression, before President Franklin D. Roosevelt had set up work-relief institutions, like the Works Progress Administration (WPA). From this quote we know that times were tough for everyone, but probably more so for a single mother, since not many women were in the workforce in the 1930s.
| Quote #3 But it came to where I had to bring her to his family and leave her. It took a long time to raise money for her fare back (11) |
Poverty breaks up the family, as the narrator has to leave Emily in the care of her father's family. There's a high price to pay for keeping a family together.
