Literally Reruns – The Thing by Dianne Willems

I’d rather that antlers grow in than have a child. Although it’s probably for the best that a person who has no children should feel that way, not everyone is so blessed. In an even more sinister conception, a combination of buyer’s remorse, potential Munchausen by proxy and our dear pals depression and fear drive this week’s rerun, The Thing by Dianne Willems. It is a simple tale of a complicated state of being, which I believe happens often, yet a shame enforced secrecy persists to the point of causing tragedy.

Q: This is an honest piece of writing. Still, did you worry about what people might think when they read it?

Q: I detect no silver lining in the mother’s plight. Was it difficult to avoid inserting the slimmest hope?

Leila Allison

Dianne’s responses:

Q: This is an honest piece of writing. Still, did you worry about what people might think when they read it?

-I did worry, and while offering the story to friends, I felt the need to keep insisting that it was fiction. Which it is, but definitely inspired by my own struggles as a new mom. 

Q: I detect no silver lining in the mother’s plight. Was it difficult to avoid inserting the slimmest hope?

-I tried to make the reader feel the dread, the absolute endlessness and desperation that the mother felt. In her mind, there was no hope, there was no silver lining. I just let pour out of me the devastating hopelessness of it all, and it somehow worked. I cried while writing it, to give you an idea.

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The Thing by Dianne Willems