A Mother (Joyce)

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A Mother
1914
Summary of the Short Story
Microsummary: A mother fights for her daughter's rights after a concert committee fails to pay her daughter the agreed-upon amount for her services as an accompanist.

A woman named Mrs. Kearney arranged a series of concerts for her daughter, Kathleen, who was a talented musician. Mrs. Kearney was determined to ensure her daughter's success and worked tirelessly to organize the concerts, even negotiating a contract for Kathleen to be paid eight guineas for her performances.

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Mrs. Kearney — strong-willed, determined mother fighting for her daughter's rights.
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Kathleen Kearney — Mrs. Kearney's daughter; talented musician; believer in the language movement.

The concerts were to be held on four consecutive nights, but the first two nights were not well-attended, and the committee decided to cancel the third night and focus on making the final concert a success.

On the night of the final concert, Mrs. Kearney demanded that her daughter be paid the full amount agreed upon in the contract, regardless of the canceled concert. The committee members, Mr. Holohan and Mr. Fitzpatrick, argued that they would only pay half of the agreed amount and would consider the contract broken if Kathleen did not perform.

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Mr. Holohan — assistant secretary of the Eire Abu Society; novice in delicate matters; seeks advice from Mrs. Kearney.
Mrs. Kearney stood her ground, insisting that her daughter would not perform unless she was paid the full amount.

She won't go on without her money.

As the concert began, Mrs. Kearney continued to argue with her husband and daughter, refusing to back down. Eventually, the committee members approached her and offered to pay the remaining amount after their meeting the following week. Still unsatisfied, Mrs. Kearney demanded that her daughter be paid immediately, or she would not perform. The committee members refused, and another musician, Miss Healy, stepped in to play the accompaniments instead.

In the end, Mrs. Kearney's stubbornness and insistence on her daughter's rights led to her being condemned by the committee and the other musicians. She left the concert with her husband and daughter, vowing that she was not done with the committee members.

I'm not done with you yet.