"Sweat" Analysis
...natural performer, a wonderful comedian, who now is in demand throughout the city and state. Suddenly, Emily appears on the scene. "Aren't you ever going to finish the ironing, mother?" (6). She says that she wants to sleep in the morning, even though this will make her late for mid-term exams. Near the end of the story the narrator imagines saying, "Why were you so concerned? She will find her way." But then she asks, "Only help her to know--help make it so there is cause for her to know--that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron" (7) Theme "I Stand Here Ironing" is about a woman struggling as a single parent to raise and have good relationships with her children. This is seen mainly through Emily, the one child that the author has failed to maintain a healthy relationship with. The message is to not procrastinate because there may not be a chance tomorrow. 4.) Analyze the author's tone and how the author conveys this tone. The story begins immediately in a clear tone of torment, the cause of which being the narrator's eldest daughter. "I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron. ' I wish you could manage the time to come in and talk with me about your daughter'" (1). The sense of struggle to care for Emily is obvious. "I found a job hashing at night so I could be with her days" (1). The narrator is a single parent desperately trying to make ends meet, yet she still manages to plan e...