Reflecting Olsen's Life

1491 Words6 Pages
Reflecting Olsen’s Life Tillie Olsen once said, “Time granted does not necessarily coincide with time that can be most fully used.” This was one of many famous quotes by Tillie Olsen. She was an American writer associated with the political chaos of the 1930s and the first wave of American feminists. Olsen’s work ties into the post modernism literature period. During her hard-working life, Tillie Olsen wrote many short stories that reflect the post modernism literary period and show connection with the feminist movement. In her work “I Stand Here Ironing” Olsen uses the theme of regret and the mother’s inner conflict to show her concern about her daughter’s life. The works writers produce are heavily influenced by the lives they live. This is especially true for Tillie Olsen. Even though Tillie Olsen’s early life was very strict because of the parents she was born into, her middle years and writing career were extremely eventful. Tillie Lerner Olsen was born on January 14, 1912 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Wahoo, Nebraska and moved to Omaha while a young child (Rohrberger). Because of being born into the Jewish faith and her parents being involved in the union, her life as an adolescent was constantly a struggle. Olsen’s parent’s being very active in the union political and economic pressures were a huge part of her early life. Her father was also a state secretary for the socialist party (Rohrberger). She started high school and dropped out when she was fifteen. When she dropped out of high school this is when her adventures of many jobs began. Although Olsen’s early life was very strict her later years were eventful. When Tillie Olsen dropped out of school at fifteen she had to work many jobs. Many of her jobs consisted of working in a meat factory and clerical work (Rohrberger). Olsen kept these jobs well after she was married and had children. In
Open Document