Suicide is an act that not only “harms one's health, hastens one's own death and... causes premature death” for the individual, but it also negatively affects others. around them (Farberow, 28). There are many reasons why people resort to suicide and Marsha Norman explores many of these reasons in her play "Night, Mother" in which the protagonist, Jessie Cates, makes the decision to end her life. Throughout the play, the reasons why Jessie personally decided to end her life are mentioned, but in order to fully understand why she decided to commit this fatal act, her surroundings and history must be taken into consideration, because multiple influences pushed Jessie to get to this point. no way back.Marsha Norman was born into a very religious family in 1947 and learned to read and write at a young age, which sparked her interest in literature. Her strict upbringing, the death of her father when she was eight, and her work with troubled teenagers in a psychiatric hospital are all sources of inspiration for her works, including "Night, Mother." 'night, Mother was published in 1982 and is most likely set in America in the late 1970s or early 1980s. At that time, suicide was something of a taboo subject, even though deaths by suicide accounted for 11 % of total deaths (Nevada CDC). The fact that Marsha Norman directly addressed the issue of suicide in her play and that one of the characters actually committed suicide during the play caused outrage, because the reasons why people committed suicide had not yet been fully explored. The reasons why people commit suicide vary greatly and in each situation there is something to learn about the victim and the circumstances that led them to resort...... middle of paper ...... "Loneliness, Depression and Suicide. Loneliness, Depression and Suicide. Np, and Web. December 4, 2013. McGrath, Ellen. Women and depression: risk factors and treatment issues: final report of the national task force. the American Psychological Association on Women and Depression Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1990. Print. “Good Night, Mother. : Dramatists Play Service, 1983. Print.Parcel, Toby L. and Elizabeth G. Menaghan. “Family Social Capital and Child Behavior Problems.” Social Psychology Quarterly 56.2 (1993): 120. JSTOR Internet. Rick, Frank. "News Page 1." THEATER: "NIGHT, MOTHER" AT HARVARD, January 12, 1983. Web. December 4, 2013. “What is depression?” What are the causes of depression? Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, April 7, 2009. Web. December 9. 2013.