Which excerpt from "I Stand Here Ironing" best summarizes the overall theme of the story?

"Only help her to believe – help make it so there is cause for her to believe that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron."

"She was dark and thin and foreign-looking in a world where the prestige went to blondness and curly hair and dimples, slow where glibness was prized."

"So all that is in her will not bloom – but in how many does it?"

"I was nineteen. It was the pre-relief, pre-WPA world of the depression."

Answer: I would contend that the right answer is the A) "Only help her to believe – help make it so there is cause for her to believe that she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless before the iron."

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that this brilliant story by American writer Tillie Olsen (1912-2007) is the story of a repentant mother, who recalls with bitterness the difficult upbringing of one of her children, Emily, but who, like all mothers do, hopes the best for her child, now a young adult who, against all odds, has managed to survive and is finding her way as a comedian. She knows that her daughter has the potential to excel, but she may not realize it, after all, since conditions are not favourable to her—their economic resources are still limited, and Emily has the emotional baggage of having been raised feeling neglected and discouraged. However, Emily's mom still hopes for the best, hence her final statement: let my daughter believe that, in spite of her terrible childhood, she still has reasons to be hopeful about her future.