The Original Olsen Twins: Sisters On Uncommon Ground

Once again, we find a story pitting two sisters against one another, the younger winning as always. However, this time the story is told not from the perspective of the eldest daughter but from the mother’s point of view. She is not oblivious to her favoritism towards her second daughter, as Mama was in 'Why I Live at the P.O.'

Another point of contact with other literature we have already covered is the theme of the working wife with the absent/abusive husband – the central concern, of course, of Hurston’s 'Sweat.'

I think the ironing is significant because it is a typical task of the housewife. However, it seems that the mother too often let Emily become a task to accomplish rather than a person to be loved. She mentions breastfeeding ‘by the book,’ and one gets the feeling her whole parenting style was this way: clinical, cold, grave. Yes, on the surface she is dutifully ironing, fulfilling her motherly role, but in her most important job as mother, she believes she has failed. She may have rectified many of these failings with future children, but with Emily what is done is done. Is there any possibility of redemption for Mom, of reconciliation between sisters?