Night, Mother

“Will Jesse kill herself?” is definitely the most obvious choice for the MDQ, however I don’t think it’s the most interesting one. Jesse spends the duration of the play trying to convince Mama what she needs to do, why it’ll be okay and why it is her final decision. I think an effective alternative would be, “Will Jesse be able to convince Mama that life will go on after she’s gone?” This question isn’t answered as directly by the text, but takes more analyzing from the reader, and makes it very important to pay attention to details. Jesse begins the play with full disclosure, telling Mama she intends on killing herself, saying directly, “I’m going to kill myself Mama.” With that, she continues to elaborate on everything she has prepared for Mama so that she can continue to live her life. Jesse describes how she called the milkman, restocked the hard ware drawer, made a list of birthdays so her Mama wouldn’t forget them and even directions on exactly how to proceed after she does the deed. Mama resists in a heartbreaking manner, trying to do everything to convince her to stay…cleaning up, and making her hot chocolate, saying, “….of course I’ll make you a caramel apple.” In the final stages of the play, Mama gets desperate and agrees when Jesse screams, “I should’ve just left you a note!” It’s suspenseful and put me on edge, reading Mama’s reactions. This question is answered at the end, after Jesse shots herself, because we see her beginning to go about her life the exact way Jesse had planned it out. This question is equally as relevant as the obvious MDQ, however, its answer is dependent on a much larger amount of the text, making it a better option.