Final answer:
The question of why the mother wanted to travel in the story "Borders" likely relates to themes of identity and belonging.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question about why the mother in the story "Borders" wanted to travel seems to be centered around themes of identity, belonging, and the experience of living near a border. From the provided snippets, there isn't a clear text specifically from the short story titled "Borders".
However, examining the texts provided, which depict characters with a strong connection to a certain place or experiencing struggles with borders or travel, we might infer that the mother's desire to travel could stem from her personal history, experiences, or a deeper search for identity. Without the actual text from "Borders", we can draw parallels with these themes and consider that the mother's motivations could be linked to her past work as a park ranger, her relationship with her homeland, or a need to reconcile with her cultural or geographical roots.
In the story "Borders," the speaker's mother wants to travel because she believes that it is beneath her child to become a border-cop after all the years spent studying. The speaker, on the other hand, wants to experience the reality of the border firsthand and understand it beyond the facts and policies that have been learned. The mother, having grown up near the border herself, questions the speaker's desire to explore something that they have always been near.