Questions for the author, Andre Dubus, regarding Miranda Over the Valley

1. Mr. Dubus, being that you are a man, how do you think you accurately portrayed an 18 year old Miranda, especially under her specific circumstances?

I am an experienced writer who found this topic to be interesting and extremely current. I interviewed many young women and feel I do have an understanding of their lives and what they would be feeling. I do feel that I was able to convey that information very believably.
Miranda is like many young women trying to discover who she is alone and who she is in a realtionship.

2. How important is character development to you when writing a short story?

Character development is the most important piece especially when writing a short story when you are limited with words. Each character and their relationship to each other makes the story more compelling with the desire to find out who they each relate.

3. Did you mean to portray Miranda as a insecure teen with no self esteem?

Yes, that is exactly right. She is lost and does not clearly identify herself without having a relationship to others. It seems she needs a man to exist. To say she "is like a piece of chalk" and doesn't want to be alone, "she wants to be owned" really says something about Miranda.

4. Was there a message in this story about Miranda? Maybe the idea that girls should be more careful when having sex at an early age?

No, this story shows what is happening in today's high schools with teenage girls. Miranda depicts every girl out there. There is a message, of course, but that was not the intention of the short story.

5. Why did you have Miranda sleep with her roommate's friend, Brian? Did you want the reader to dislike her?

I wanted the reader to fully understand that Miranda does not feel good about herself and is constantly questioning herself and all her decisions. She even questioned this and I did let the reader see how "messed up" Miranda was especially after the affair. I think the reader does not dislike Miranda but rather feels sorry for her.

6. Miranda obviously had an abortion, with the references to her feeling like "ropes of her own blood trailed from her back and were knotted...and that she could not move forward because she could not go back to free herself." Was this your attempt at symbolism??

There is some symbolism in the story around her relationship with blood but this particular issue and means to an end, having the abortion, was not really about symbolism. Rather it letting the reader understand what Miranda went through when she made the decision to end the pregnancy. It is a very difficult decision and extremely hard for her because she has such a hard time making any decisions.