Night, Mother

The play, which is presented in one act, with no intermission, takes place in the present day in the living room of Thelma Cates. The text notes that the set should include clocks and that they should be set to about 8:15pm at the beginning of the play and allowed to run normally throughout the action. As the play opens, Thelma fumbles through her cabinets before extracting a package of Sno Ball cupcakes. She sees that one of the snack cakes was eaten and blames her son, Dawson. Thelma’s daughter, Jessie, enters busily, searching for old towels and a sheet of plastic or some garbage bags. Thelma warns her not to make a mess, reminding her that it’s Saturday night, when Jessie usually repaints her mother’s nails. She points out that they need more Sno Balls, and Jessie replies that she has ordered an entire case, which is arriving tomorrow. Jessie asks about her late father’s gun and pulls the ladder down to check the attic, although the floor of the attic is unstable. Thelma asks Jessie why she wants the gun, and Jessie replies, briefly, “Protection” (11).

Thelma dismisses the idea that Jessie needs a gun for protection, since criminals don’t venture this far out into the country. Jessie mentions Ricky, her son, and goes into the attic to search her father’s old shoeboxes. Thelma worries that Jessie might have a seizure in the attic where her mother won’t be able to help her. Thelma asserts that Ricky is simply confused and will one day grow up and apologize to Jessie. Jessie, returning down the stairs, reassures her mother, saying, “Don’t worry. It’s not for him, it’s for me” (12). However, Jessie doesn’t want to talk about Ricky, who stole two of her rings, the only valuable things she owned, adding that she hopes he ends up in prison. She tells her mother to wash her hands for her manicure and sits down to clean the gun. When her mother questions her, Jessie reiterates that the gun is for her, stating, “I’m going to kill myself, Mama” (13). To her mother’s disbelief, Jessie insists that she isn’t joking.

Jessie explains that she plans to commit suicide with the gun in a couple of hours. She says she took her medication and waited until she was feeling well—and adds that Dawson, her brother, helped her procure the bullets. Thelma is disquieted to realize that she helped Jessie locate the gun. However, Jessie still plans to paint her mother’s nails. Thelma threatens to call Dawson, but Jessie replies that she’ll simply kill herself immediately instead. Thelma goes to the phone anyway, but Jessie stops her: “No. This is private. Dawson is not invited” (15). Thelma suggests an ambulance, but Jessie refuses to allow anyone except her mother to be present. Thelma tries to reason with her, suggesting that Jessie will have a seizure and miss the shot, ending up with brain damage instead. She insists that it makes no sense because Jessie doesn’t even seem upset and because everyone fears dying.

Jessie tells her mother that she wants to die because she wants peace and quiet. She dismisses Thelma’s warning that suicide is a sin and will land her in hell, countering that Jesus committed suicide—and surprising herself with this thought. Thelma exclaims that she owns the towels, the gun, and the house, and she won’t allow Jessie to use them to kill herself. Jessie is exasperated at her mother’s response, asserting, “There’s just no point in fighting me over it, that’s all” (17). Thelma mentions Jessie’s upcoming birthday, attempting to bribe her, but Jessie is unmoved by the thought of a predictable day with predictable gifts. Jessie exits to her bedroom with the gun, towels, and garbage bags, and her mother goes to the phone, dials, and then hangs it up when Jessie returns. They communicate wordlessly, as people often do after living together for a long time. Thelma admits that she started to call Dawson but stopped. Jessie thanks her.

Thelma pleads with Jessie to explain why she’s decided to kill herself—and what Thelma has done to make her angry. Jessie starts refilling the candy jars and asserts that she isn’t angry at her mother but is concerned for her well-being without Jessie there to help her. To that end, Jessie is working her way through a “to do” list, including teaching her mother how to properly use the washing machine. Thelma responds indignantly, “I know how the washer works. You put the clothes in. You put the soap in. You turn it on. You wait” (18). However, Jessie replies that Thelma never waits, and Thelma agrees that waiting is the most irritating part of doing laundry. Thelma promises to pay Loretta, Dawson’s wife, to do the laundry for them if Jessie will just stay alive. They muse that Loretta wouldn’t stoop to washing their clothes anyway because she feels superior to Jessie and Thelma. Thelma offers that they don’t have to see Loretta or even Dawson again if they irritate Jessie.

Jessie admits that Dawson does irk her because he’s too familiar and knows her too well, even though she had no choice in his knowing her so well. Thelma replies, “Family is just accident, Jessie. It’s nothing personal” (19). Jessie describes the uncomfortable intimacy of her brother opening her package, delivered to him by mistake, which contained a bra she ordered. Thelma swears that she’ll never allow them into the house again, but Jessie explains that she isn’t committing suicide to escape her relatives. Then, she continues through her checklist, explaining to Thelma how to order groceries. Thelma conjectures that Jessie planned her suicide to reach or even get revenge on Ricky, but Jessie states, “If I thought I could do that, I would stay” (20). Jessie asserts that she and Ricky both hurt each other, so their relationship is balanced.

Thelma argues that Jessie will only be showing Ricky that killing is acceptable, and Jessie tells her that Ricky will inevitably kill someone and that Thelma ought to allow Dawson to deal with the fallout when it finally happens. Thelma asserts that Jessie should stay because Ricky might turn his life around, but Jessie says that she isn’t killing herself over Ricky. Thelma tries to find another reason, a physical ailment, but Jessie explains that she isn’t ill. She remembers the “Gone Fishing” sign that her father hung on the barn and wishes she had one to wear around her neck. Thelma says accusingly, “You don’t like it here” (21). Smiling, Jessie agrees. Thelma clarifies that she was referring to her house and Jessie agrees again. Thelma exclaims that after Jessie’s husband, Cecil, left her, Jessie ought to have had her own home and life instead of moving in with her mother. Jessie concurs that this might be true, but if moving in was a bad idea, it wasn’t her mother’s fault; Jessie needed help and her mother took her in.

Jessie explains, “Mama . . . I’m just not having a very good time and I don’t have any reason to think it’ll get anything but worse. I’m tired. I’m hurt. I’m sad. I feel used” (22). Thelma presses Jessie to elaborate but then realizes that making this statement is an item on Jessie’s checklist. Jessie admits that she has felt this way intermittently for a decade but constantly since Christmas. To her mother’s questioning, Jessie says that nothing happened on Christmas, and the two women share a silent moment of implicit understanding before Jessie returns to discussing the grocery order. Thelma demands an explanation as to why Jessie is hurt but already knows the answer, so she presses her daughter to tell her why she’s sad. Jessie evades the question by giving her mother more instructions, finally stating vaguely that the news of the world is bleak and gives her little hope that life could be any better.

Thelma promises to rid the house of newspapers and television so that Jessie will never have to see the news. She suggests that they get another dog, reminding Jessie of a dog she loved and then chiding herself for bringing up a pet who met a tragic end. A dog would be something that Jessie could care for, but Jessie reminds her mother that she has been caring for her. Thelma insists that Jessie doesn’t have to be her caretaker, and Jessie replies knowingly that Thelma was pretending to need her to give her purpose. Jessie compares life to a miserable, uncomfortable, overcrowded bus—but explains that on this bus, she doesn’t have to wait for her stop. She has the power to decide that she’s tired of riding and get off. Thelma accuses her of self-pity, exclaiming that no one ever said that life is always fun and Jessie needs to seek out ways to occupy herself.

Suddenly angry, Thelma admonishes her for “acting like some little brat” (25) who’s bored with everything. She says that Jessie is at fault for her own misery. Calmly, Jessie replies, “And it’s time I did something about it” (25). Desperately, Thelma suggests ways that Jessie could distract herself from her misery, including employment. Jessie argues that between her scant employment history and the precarity of her epilepsy, the kind of job she could get would only worsen her depression. Thelma exclaims that this is true only because Jessie believes it is. Jessie, surprised by the simple accuracy of this statement, replies, “That’s right. It’s what I think is true” (26). Thelma wails, “But I can’t do anything about that!” (26) Quietly, Jessie agrees, explaining that she can’t change it either except to exercise her agency to end it. Jessie suggests that they enjoy their time together, and Thelma agrees to make hot chocolate and caramel apples. There is momentary peace between mother and daughter.

Thelma begins cooking, deliberately stretching the time and process. Jessie asks about Thelma’s long-time friend, Agnes Fletcher, and Thelma reveals casually that Agnes is a bit of a firebug. She has set eight major fires, burning down all the homes she lived in, but no one was ever hurt and the houses were all dilapidated. Thelma suggests that Agnes might do it again soon. However, Jessie is doubtful, and Thelma admits that Agnes set the fires when she was a child. Thelma continues to entertain Jessie by talking about Agnes, who seems to be a topic of occasional conversation. As Jessie questions her, however, Thelma admits that she exaggerated her tales of Agnes to make Jessie laugh. Jessie wonders why Agnes never comes to the house, and Thelma doesn’t respond, focusing instead on making cocoa.

Thelma comments that she wishes they’d made cocoa more often, but Jessie reminds her mother that she hates milk. Jessie presses Thelma, and she finally confesses that the reason Agnes won’t come to the house is that she’s afraid of Jessie because Jessie has cold hands “like a corpse” (30). Thelma quotes Agnes, who claimed, “Jessie’s shook the hand of death and I can’t take the chance it’s catching” (30). Jessie laughs and agrees that Agnes is insane. Thelma offers to force Agnes to come over, but Jessie declines. Jessie insists that Thelma doesn’t need to lie to her or make up stories, and Thelma agrees to answer whatever question she asks. First, Jessie asks if Thelma loved her father. Thelma promptly says that she didn’t, and her truthfulness pleases Jessie.

Jessie’s father liked to claim that when Thelma was 15, he hauled her out of the mud and into the kitchen, which Thelma calls a “big fat lie” (31). She comments on the bad taste of the milk in the cocoa, and Jessie agrees that the milk tastes terrible. Jessie thought she was misremembering not liking the cocoa, but as her mother corroborates, she never cared for it. They set their cups aside. Jessie presses her mother about her relationship with Jessie’s father. Thelma explains that he pitied her and married her because she was “a plain country woman” (31) but acted disappointed for the rest of his life that she hadn’t transformed into something else. However, Jessie adored him, and he was a loving father. He fashioned little people and animals out of pipe cleaners to make her happy. Thelma never understood the silent understanding between them, noting that her husband might as well have had the “Gone Fishing” sign around his neck.

Thelma demands to know what Jessie understood about her father’s inscrutable thoughts—and what secrets they shared in hushed voices. Jessie insists that they never shared anything secret or profound, just mundane conversations. Jessie accuses Thelma of jealousy, and Thelma concurs, adding that if she’d died first, Jessie’s father wouldn’t have let Jessie move in with him. Jessie agrees, and Thelma accuses her of being angry that her father died and left her with her mother. Openly, Jessie replies that she felt that way once but no longer. Thelma tells Jessie that her father pitied her too, calling her a “runt” who “didn’t have a chance” (33). Nevertheless, Jessie knows that her father loved her. Thelma complains that he never actually went fishing. He just sat by the lake in his car, coming home with nothing but more pipe-cleaner figures. Frustrated, Thelma hid his pipe cleaners, but he never seemed to run out.

Jessie comments that she hoped her father’s death would allow her mother to grow and move on. Annoyed, Thelma replies that she didn’t live her life for his entertainment and wouldn’t live it for Jessie’s. She concludes that Jessie’s curiosity suggests that she wouldn’t be suicidal if her father were still alive, but Jessie disagrees, explaining that she just wanted to confirm that her mother didn’t love her father. Thelma insists that the lack of love between them didn’t matter. Abruptly, she starts emptying the silverware drawer and orders Jessie to carry her pots and pans out to the porch, exclaiming that she plans to give up cooking and live on candy and takeout. Jessie starts to put them away instead, suggesting that perhaps Agnes would want to move in with Thelma.

Indignantly, Thelma refuses the idea. Still, Jessie suggests, it’s something she might want to think about. Thelma retorts, “I don’t like things to think about. I like things to go on!” (36) Jessie asks about the night her father died, when Thelma angrily exited his room and told Jessie to sit with him. Jessie wants to know what he said to make her so furious. Thelma exclaims that he didn’t say anything, even knowing that he was about to die. Jessie says, “I’m sorry you didn’t love him. Sorry for you, I mean. He seemed like a nice man” (36). Changing the subject, Thelma brings up the caramel apples she agreed to make. However, this time she points out that Jessie never liked them any more than she liked the cocoa. Thelma wonders bitterly how Jessie subsisted until now when she didn’t seem to enjoy any food.