Responding to Dr. Fletcher's Prompt on Night, Mother by Marsha Norman
I think there are many other Major Dramatic Questions for Night, Mother i.e. "Why does Jessie want to kill herself?" During the play Mama continuously asks why Jessie wants to kill herself and what is the cause of her doing it. Jessie changes her mind and reason several times for why she wants to die. She blames it on her illness and for not being normal. However, she also blames Mama for not telling her the truth.
As the first scene begins we see Jessie checking off her list and searching for a gun. "Why does Jessie first lie about the gun to her Mama?" She tells Mama it is for protection which later on in the play she admits that it will be for shooting herself. Was Jessie nervous about her Mama's reaction to her reason behind the gun? Jessie seems to hide a lot of things away from her mother. When her Mama reacts to when Jessie first tells her it is for killing herself, she is overly worried and retaliates with how it is such a selfish thing to do.
Jessie and Mama talk about Cicel and Ricky who are Jessie's family. Cicel left Jessie after her illness of epilepsy grew worse. Ricky has run off and began misbehaving committing small crimes. "Why doesn't Jessie seem to care for her son?" She talks about her son Ricky as if he does not really matter. Mama cares more for Ricky by being hopeful for his future. Mama tries to convince Jessie not to kill herself in hope that Ricky would come back with his own family and children. This hope does not phase Jessie and she still kills herself.
Overall, Jessie wanted to kill herself because she had given up on life. Her illness became a crutch she relied on as an excuse. Her excuse took her life. Mama tried to reason and make life seem worthwhile to continue on living; even hoping that there was another better man out there for Jessie. "Why did Jessie pull the trigger?"
As the first scene begins we see Jessie checking off her list and searching for a gun. "Why does Jessie first lie about the gun to her Mama?" She tells Mama it is for protection which later on in the play she admits that it will be for shooting herself. Was Jessie nervous about her Mama's reaction to her reason behind the gun? Jessie seems to hide a lot of things away from her mother. When her Mama reacts to when Jessie first tells her it is for killing herself, she is overly worried and retaliates with how it is such a selfish thing to do.
Jessie and Mama talk about Cicel and Ricky who are Jessie's family. Cicel left Jessie after her illness of epilepsy grew worse. Ricky has run off and began misbehaving committing small crimes. "Why doesn't Jessie seem to care for her son?" She talks about her son Ricky as if he does not really matter. Mama cares more for Ricky by being hopeful for his future. Mama tries to convince Jessie not to kill herself in hope that Ricky would come back with his own family and children. This hope does not phase Jessie and she still kills herself.
Overall, Jessie wanted to kill herself because she had given up on life. Her illness became a crutch she relied on as an excuse. Her excuse took her life. Mama tried to reason and make life seem worthwhile to continue on living; even hoping that there was another better man out there for Jessie. "Why did Jessie pull the trigger?"
No comments:
Post a Comment