’night, Mother (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Marsha Williams
- First Published: 1983
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The late twentieth century
- Setting: Rural United States
- Principal Characters: Mama (Thelma Cates), Jessie Cates
- Genres: Domestic realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Domestic tragedy
- Subjects: 1970’s, United States or Americans, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Suicide, Communication, Alienation, 1980’s, Honesty, Pain, Death or dying, Depression, mental, Truthfulness and falsehood, Loneliness, Life and death, Happiness, Epilepsy
- Locales: United States
The Story:
On Saturday night, while Mama hunted for her sweets, Jessie rummaged for towels and garbage bags and searched the attic for her father’s gun. Jessie told Mama that she wanted the gun for protection. Mama, convinced that there were no criminals near the out-of-the-way country house where they lived, thought Jessie was foolish. Jessie eventually told Mama of her plan to commit suicide. At first Mama thought that Jessie, an epileptic, was ill, but Jessie felt fine. Then Mama said that the gun was broken, but Jessie proved that it was in good condition. She had gotten...
[The entire page is 2483 words long]
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