A review of John Moore’s “Intensive Care” from Sub Terrain: Strong Words for a Polite Nation
In the literary magazine, Sub Terrain, John Moore wrote a short story called “Intensive Care”. It’s about a lawyer named Doug Wilson who leans that his partner, Jean, had gotten in an accident and is in intensive care. This story seems like a cliché story about someone having a horrific accident and then dying, but, although the plot seems cliché, the details of the story are different from the cliché. At first glance this story seems to follow Jean’s time in the hospital, and the climax (turning point) becoming her death. But after reading the story a few times, it quickly become apparent that the story is not about Jean at all. Jean was merely …show more content…
Doug Wilson is a middle age lawyer whose partner was Jean. Wilson’s physical description but it can be inferred. Wilson seems to appear as a tall, stoic man who works hard and hold the mindset to be strong and weak, whichever one is required of him. Wilson’s partner was in the hospital and the author described his internal shock and his outward professional and almost stoic appearance. He comforted Sandy in her time of need and explained what was going on without falling into a depressed state himself. The only time he visibly shows weakness (besides when he went home) was when he leaves the hospital, after Jean was pronounced dead, to take a smoke. But even that was short lasted because Sandy had followed him and he had to maintain a professional aura. Wilson, throughout the story, holds a couple of desires, leading to his actions, which change throughout the story. In the beginning he was concerned about his partner which forces him to rush to the hospital. This desire changes, in the middle of the story, to comfort the family especially Sandy. At the end of the story the desire changes again, this time to being a lawyer for Sandy and possibly finding evidence to implicate Don as the cause of Jean’s
In the literary magazine, Sub Terrain, John Moore wrote a short story called “Intensive Care”. It’s about a lawyer named Doug Wilson who leans that his partner, Jean, had gotten in an accident and is in intensive care. This story seems like a cliché story about someone having a horrific accident and then dying, but, although the plot seems cliché, the details of the story are different from the cliché. At first glance this story seems to follow Jean’s time in the hospital, and the climax (turning point) becoming her death. But after reading the story a few times, it quickly become apparent that the story is not about Jean at all. Jean was merely …show more content…
Doug Wilson is a middle age lawyer whose partner was Jean. Wilson’s physical description but it can be inferred. Wilson seems to appear as a tall, stoic man who works hard and hold the mindset to be strong and weak, whichever one is required of him. Wilson’s partner was in the hospital and the author described his internal shock and his outward professional and almost stoic appearance. He comforted Sandy in her time of need and explained what was going on without falling into a depressed state himself. The only time he visibly shows weakness (besides when he went home) was when he leaves the hospital, after Jean was pronounced dead, to take a smoke. But even that was short lasted because Sandy had followed him and he had to maintain a professional aura. Wilson, throughout the story, holds a couple of desires, leading to his actions, which change throughout the story. In the beginning he was concerned about his partner which forces him to rush to the hospital. This desire changes, in the middle of the story, to comfort the family especially Sandy. At the end of the story the desire changes again, this time to being a lawyer for Sandy and possibly finding evidence to implicate Don as the cause of Jean’s