Marriage, Divorce, and Family

A central theme of Reunion is marriage, divorce, and family. Carol's relationship with her father was broken off when she was four years old because of her parents' divorce. Carol's mother is now remarried, and she has a half-sister from this union. Bernie remarried after divorcing Carol's mother and was divorced a second time. As a result of Bernie's second marriage, Carol has a half brother. Now Bernie is considering a third marriage to a woman he works with at the restaurant who has already been divorced once. The marriage he is considering, however, does not sound entirely promising because his reason for wanting to remarry is for "companionship," and there is no suggestion that he feels a strong or deep connection to the woman he plans on marrying.

Carol's husband, Gerry, is divorced from his first wife, with whom he had two sons. Carol...