Ordinary People - Impact of Characters on Conrad

 

In the novel Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, many people affect Conrad.  Three people that have an affect on him are his father, mother and therapist.  Conrad goes through significant changes by the way he has been affected.

            In the beginning of the novel Con had just returned from the hospital for attempting suicide.  Right off the bat Con finds it hard to wake up in the morning because he is afraid that anxiety and failure will be waiting for him.  He makes himself think of reasons to get out of bed.  Then he goes through the whole ritual in his head.  Con was depressed.  He would be a treated very fragile wise by his teachers.  He also was a very doubt full person.  When it came to his brother’s death, he would wish that he could have done something different.  Con would go through the whole scene in his head over and over again pondering on what he could have done right.  He also feels isolated from his mother.  Although he loves his mother, she could never love him back.  Most of the time he would feel obligated to stay away from her.  Because Lazenby reminded Con of his brother, Con decided to break up their friendship.

            Throughout the novel one person who had an affect on Conrad was his father.  From the beginning of the novel, Con’s father had an understanding of him.  From talking to spending time with Con, his father was there most of the time.  When Conrad was confused or had a question, his father would try to help and answer him to the best of his ability.  Because his father was put into a home I think that he was able to understand Con a lot more.  Just as understanding he was also caring.  Whenever Con felt upset or happy, his father was there to share the experience. His father would always make sure that Con was all right.  His father cared so much that he gave Con a number of a psychiatrist.  Unlike the mother, the father would like to see Con back to normal.

            The mother had a negative affect on Conrad.  After the brother’s death, and Con’s attempted suicide, she could never deal with Con.  When the brother died so did a part of her ability to love.  This mad it hard for her to cooperate with Con.  The only way that she knew how to deal with him was through leaving the situation and escaping to a distant place.  Through refusing to deal with Con, he was left hating his own mother.  She was also obsessed with her appearance viewed by her relatives and friends.  As long as no one knew what was going on inside her family, she would keep up a false front.  Another thing about her is that she was also a non-forgiving person.  She was never able to forgive Con for attempting suicide.  She never liked it when his father tried to help Con out.  She thought that Con was going to bring down the whole family.

            I found that Berger had a good affect on Conrad.  As Con’s psychiatrist, he was always there for him.  At the beginning of the sessions he lets Con know that the sessions were controlled by his success. Through out the sessions Berger began to help Con relax.  Berger was able to help Con out in realizing that he was doing too many things.  He was able to help Con quit the swimming team.  By doing this Con was able to have more time on his hands.  Through every meeting Berger was able to build a friendly relationship with Con.  When Karen committed suicide, Con was able to contact Berger and meet with him.  Through meeting with Berger I felt that Con was able to fill a void in his life that his mother couldn’t.  Like having someone care for you and help you out. 

            Through the novel Conrad changes from a suicidal being to a person who can put meaning in his life.  From quitting the swimming team to meeting with Jeanine, he was able to get a hold on his life and live it out.  He was also able to communicate even more with his dad and show affection towards his mom.  Through sessions with Berger he was able to let his feelings out instead of suppressing them.  He also learned that he was not responsible for everything that goes on.  Especially his brother's death.  Through his transactions with his father he was able to learn that he was not as troublesome as his brother.  For that he didn’t get yelled at as much, by his father.  Thus through the novel Conrad has changed from an emotionally depressed, suicidal person to a young man who can grasp reality.