Question

explain the story tell me a riddle by Tillie Olsen.

Answer 1

Answer

The story, "Tell me a Riddle" by Tillie Olsen is a short story containing the biography of Tillie Olsen. The story revolves around the initial conflict between Eva and her husband David.

After (47) forty-seven-year marriage, a conflict arises between the couple, because the husband wanted to sell the house and move into a retirement home in order to get freedom, whereas, freedom is different for Eva, for years she has played the role of a mother and sacrificed her identity.

In the story, we notice that Eva came to America as a fierce woman and had a revolutionary past. But later, when she was forced to play the role of a mother, she had to sacrifice her revolutionary past.

The story shows how women struggle with their restrictive/assigned gender roles. Throughout her life, Eva played the gender roles which were assigned to her, but she always had the desire to discover her inner-self and not be submissive women who agree to everything her husband has to say irrespective of what she wants as an individual.

After so many years, she took the step to leave behind the submissive nature and stood against the bondage and discover herself. When her husband desired to move to Haven, she disagreed with the idea of selling the house and moving to Haven. Her children also had sympathy for Eva.

The few times she is at peace is when she spends time with her granddaughter. Eva notices that when her husband plays with the grandchildren, he knows everything from telling a riddle or a joke to tell them secrets or lift them or tickle them, but when the grandchildren ask Eva to do similar things, her answer is, "I know no..."

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