Indecisiveness

The most prevalent motif at work in "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" is the Pinner sisters' indecisiveness. In the wake of their father's death, the sisters address a number of concerns that must be decided by them now that the patriarch of the house is gone. The story begins with the sisters discussing whether they should give their father's top hat to the porter and whether they should dye the rest of their clothing black to showcase their mourning. On both of these topics, the sisters go back and forth, unable to come to a finite decision. Their indecisive behavior early in the story is linked to their grief over their father's death; the narrator suggests that the sisters are consumed by mourning and therefore cannot process decisions properly. However, as the story unfolds, readers learn that the sisters' relationship with their father was not...