I interpreted this piece as a mother talking to her young daughter. The style helps show the relationship between the mother and daughter. The mother's instructions dominate the piece, while the daughter's responses are few and far between. There are no paragraph breaks, and the entire piece is one long sentence. This illustrates how the daughter perceives the constant instruction; it's impossible to remember everything from the seemingly non-stop bombardment upon her ears. She doesn't have time to ask questions. And when she does, they do not receive helpful responses. In fact, it doesn't seem like the mother even listens. The mother doesn't seem to WANT a relationship with the daughter. However, that's not to say that she doesn't love her. She tries to equip her daughter with the lessons she will need to have what she herself considers a decent life. It makes you wonder about the relationship the mother had with her own mother. Did she treat her the same way? Did she call her a slut? Did she teach her to be content with a mundane and loveless life?
"...if they don't work don't feel to bad about giving up"
This to me was the most powerful line in the piece. It gives us a depressing glimpse of the life the mother has, the life she is preparing her daughter to have. This is the only life she knows. She doesn't know how to help her daughter have a better life. All she feels she can do is teach lessons at her daughter so that she will be prepared to follow in her shoes.
It makes you wonder whether the cycle will ever be broken. Will the daughter grow up to be just like her mother? It also makes you reflect upon how influential parents are on their children, and how many, many parents are themselves unequipped with the wisdom necessary to equip their offspring.
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