Night Mother #3

What causes somebody to take their own life? At what point do we decide that we've had enough and we're ready to get off? The topic of suicide tends to be placed into specific categories of anger, depression , or loneliness. However, in Marsha Norman's, Night Mother the idea of suicide is shown in a completely different light. Jessie is an ordinary, middle class women, in an ordinary, middle class living neighborhood, where ordinary people would not contemplate the possibility of suicide, much less discuss it.The conflict arises with Jessie's contemplation of taking her own life. What makes this play interesting is her reasoning behind this decision. Jessie simply just wants it her life to come to an end plain and simple. Thoughts like this are not usually common in people with such a steady mind. Because of this unusual situation you are left to ask yourself will she actually kill herself? Can somebody end their life for the sake of ending it? This question fuels the scripts and builds the anticipation of its readers. You are only left to decide whether or not you believe Jessie will take her own life. Rational thinkers can see this play ending one way and emotional thinkers another. This causes the reader to have a different outcomes and perceptions of Jessie's decision. This is why the question of Jessie's death is the MDQ of the script. It is a question that initially lead to a series of different answers and provokes the thoughts of its readers.Without this as the MDQ the play would have no conflict for the characters to be faced with.