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MICHIGAN QUARTERLY REVIEW
woods, their coupling takes account of a sexual attraction built into
a long-standing relationship. The next morning, their passion
apparently placated, they make plans to meet again-with their
families in tow. Similarly, at his wife's request, Harold agrees to
impregnate Meg; the resulting sexual encounter, which is carried
out as if by two friends on a mischievous lark, testifies to Harold's
affection for Meg, but even more, to the friendship between Sarah
and Meg.
Among these liaisons, however, one lasting relationship is formed.
Interestingly, Chloe (Meg Tilly) and Nick have already met earlier
through Nick's work when, as a teenager, she called in to his radio
show for advice. Now, at the end of the weekend, Nick spends the
night with Chloe and then decides to stay behind with her in Alex's
cabin in the woods. Chloe clearly accepts the asexual relationship
Nick has to offer: when he reminds her, "You know I don't do
anything" in response to her overture, she nods silently. At the same
time, it is strongly hinted that Nick and Chloe have a rapport
because of their mutual connection to Alex. Chloe tells Nick that he
reminds her of Alex, and it is Chloe who laughs uproariously at
Nick's deflating comment on the soul-searching conversation at dinner: "I know what Alex would say - what's for dessert?" More significant still, Nick is the only person able to bring Chloe in touch with
her grief for Alex by sharing with her his own memory of his friend:
touching one of Alex's old coats hanging in his cabin, Nick murmurs,
"I remember when he bought this," and the camera pans over to
show Chloe's face which, for the first time in the film, is covered
with tears. When Karen hears the news that Nick is staying in Alex's
cabin with Chloe, she muses, "Well, I guess there's a certain symmetry to that." The symmetry Karen perceives sums up Kasdan's view
of relationships in The Big Chill-that their basic component is
friendship, rather than sexual or romantic attraction. Indeed, what
Nick and Chloe seem to share ultimately is a spontaneous affinity
based on their memory of a mutual friend.
The relationship between Nick and Chloe is the central, as well as
the most puzzling, one in the film. Even if we read Karen's comment on the symmetry of their union as signifying both her and
Kasdan's approval, a basic ambiguity remains, especially if we consider the symbolic value of both Nick and Chloe as characters.
Among all the other characters, Nick and Alex are most clearly
holdovers from the '60s. Thus, Nick's decision to move into Alex's
