Free College Essays - Impact of Characters on Conrad in Ordinary People

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.