Jill McCorkle's "Intervention"

While reading Jill McCorkle's story "Intervention", I was transported to Marilyn's world, split between a sense of nostalgia for the past and apprehensiveness for the current moment.  I thought McCorkle did a brilliant job at developing Marilyn's character, and I often found myself giggling at her nature and tendency to use modern phrases that she learned from young people as a teacher.  I found that McCorckle established the dynamics of the family quite clearly and laid out a diverse set of archetypes to include in the family.  There is Sally, the loving daughter who has grown up in an era of perfectionist parenthood, citing how awful it was that Marilyn drank wine when her son Tom was in the womb.  Her husband, Rusty, is scoffed at by Marilyn and her husband for acting as if he always knows the answer or is always right in every situation.  Tom is a working man in Denver who has had two relationships.  There is his ex-wife, an understanding woman who has the grandchildren and makes sure Marilyn has time to chat with them.  Finally, there is Sid and Marilyn, a couple who have been through a lot in their lives.

McCorkle does a great job at establishing Marilyn's complex motives in the story.  We learn that she is concerned for her husband and his habit of drinking too much, yet she seems apprehensive to go through with the intervention that the rest of the family is pushing.  As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Marilyn has had a secret past, revealing her own troubles with alcoholism.  McCorkle does an excellent job at slowly unveiling the characters' pasts in a way that moves the story along at a comfortable pace.  While she cares deeply for Sid, she struggles with what is the right thing to do.  If she goes through with the intervention, Sid may be upset that everyone has been aware of his addiction, but if she doesn't, she fears that he will only get worse and she may lose him.

Ultimately, we see that Sid is an understanding and forgiving character, and it is likely this attribute that has kept him and Marilyn together through all of the tough times, including Marilyn's unfaithfulness to him.  Marilyn offers Sid one last drink, and it is unclear as to whether or not he is done for good, but the tone of the story seems to suggest that their love for one another will help them to get through this issue.  I think the author's best work in this story is that of the characters.  Through the text, we are able to learn a lot about the individuals in the story and even feel a connection to them.  In this piece, I was inspired by McCorkle's depth in her characters, especially that of Marilyn.