The movie Ordinary People is about the relationships between family members after a tragedy. After Conrad’s brother is killed in a boating accident, Conrad tries to kill himself, causing his parents to send to him a hospital for recovery. The movie begins with Conrad first coming home from the hospital. The story follows Conrad, his mother Beth, and his dad Calvin. Throughout the movie there is obvious tension from recent events but nobody will acknowledge it leading to each person to act out in various forms of silence and violence. When Conrad first arrives home from the hospital he immediately represses all his emotions and is overall numb. Anytime the subject comes up he displays silence and just answers that he is fine. He eventually begins talking to a Psychiatrist who gets him to show his emotions. This causes him to act out numerous times in violence. For example, when their family is taking a picture his father tries to get a picture of Conrad and his mother, Conrad then yells at his dad to give the camera to his mom. Instead of keeping all his emotions bottled up causing him to erupt like that he could of tried to …show more content…
Numerous times she displays both acts of violence and silence. One act of violence is when she yells at Conrad for not telling her that he quit the swim team. She is embarrassed that she had to hear it from someone else that Conrad quit. Instead of lashing out at Conrad she could of tried to discuss why he quit the swim team and why he did not feel the need to tell her about it. One example of an act of silence is when she is in the kitchen and Conrad walks in. It is obvious Conrad wants to talk to her about something but she simply refuses and ignores him to answer the phone. Instead of ignoring the problem she could of created safety with Conrad to talk about his
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.
There are many important themes and subjects addressed in the book. Most importantly is how Conrad deals with his emotions and comes to accept and forgive what has happened to him. And the author shows us that this can only be done by love, support, and trust. Conrad thinks by not expressing his emotions he is less vulnerable but instead he drifts farther apart from his family. The ordeal of attempted suicide and treatment has left him feeling insecure and vulnerable and he instinctively puts up shields. Trying to appear calm and determined on the outside, he is still very confused, angry and is afraid he slip away again only to kill himself. He still feels responsible for his brother's death due to the fact his mom doesn't want to forgive him and the only way to punish himself is to deny, suppress, and control his feelings lest they give him away. It is not until the very end when Conrad?s father, Calvin finally stops skirting around the subject but tells him that he loves him and that they finally develop a sense of trust and security in one another: -
Conrad's psychological problems generated from the facts that he repressed his feelings and that he looked to others for approval. He hid all his feeling and emotions and judged himself based on what others saw and thought. When Miss Melon, Conrad's English teacher, asked him, "Do you want an extension?" Conrad's immediate response was "NO"(18). He rejected her offer of assistance because he felt that help took away from his dignity and self pride. Conrad internalized what everyone else said and did and judged himself based on this. Conrad thought about himself: "All his fault. All connections with him result in failure. Loss. Evil… Everywhere he looks, there is competence and good health… He does not want to contaminate, does not wish to find further evidence of his lack of worth"(116). Conrad looked at everyone else and concluded that everyone else was "ordinary" and that he was a problem. He was afraid that since he was not "normal," ...
The anger and confusion alongside with a deep disappointment that her husband is just standing by using whilst this is going on all is proven on her face. Actually, now not even her face, we see primarily just her profile, however it is powerful adequate for us to comprehend what she is going through. The second when the officer goes from searching to assaulting, she right now stops speakme and we see her continuously closing her eyes, shaking her head, looking slightly downward, and maintain lower back silent sobs. She tries her first-rate to now not touch Officer Ryan and avoid his fingers as well and this shows the tension and discord between the two. When she is happy with a person, or in an intimate relationship with any one (Cameron) she turns her physique towards them and is no longer afraid to touch them. When she doesn’t know any individual and knows that they are going to do something towards her will she tries her first-class to withstand them, almost
Conrad asked his therapist “So what should I do now?” The therapists responded with information and advice “Recognize her limitations” etc. These were educational comments about the mother’s probable narcissistic character disorder which were intended so Conrad might begin to understand his own conflicts about her love Conrad’s focus was initially external when he then questioned ” you mean why she can’t love me”. The therapist responded to an internal psychological explanation aided by educational comments about the mother’s personality limitations.
For example, early on in the film, it appears that a rule has been implied in which the members of the family cannot discuss details of the funeral or what happened to Conrad following the incident. In addition, it lends to a larger frame, in which it appears that members of the family do not discuss feelings or emotions. Members of the family do not display overt emotions and keep family matters as private as possible. Nobody in the family yells or shouts nor uses profanity, except when Conrad attempts to break this pattern during a scene in the film when Calvin is asking for Conrad and Beth to take a picture side by side. The viewer can see how visibly uncomfortable and stiff mother and son are, and Conrad consequently has an outburst. Although he stuns those surrounding him, no one acknowledges the outburst. Beth instead asks whose hungry, a motif in the film that Beth uses to dissipate attention from difficult
In the Heart of Darkness, Conrad throws his characters into an environment that has a very strong ability of affecting their mental sanity and physical well-being. In relation, insanity and physical illness are on different boards of the spectrum.
Ah, love. Love is so often a theme in many a well-read novel. In the story, As I Lay Dying, one very important underlying theme is not simply love, but the power to love. Some of the characters have this ability; some can only talk about it. Perhaps more than anyone, Addie and Jewel have this power- one which Jewel, by saving his mother twice, merges with his power to act. As the Bible would have it, he does "not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).
Melinda desperately wanted to explain and rely on someone. Rachel showed indifference as she invited Melinda to the party and Melinda did something that she should not have, which could affect her potential high school status. After Melinda calls the cops at the party, nobody bothers to ask what’s wrong, not even Rachel/Rachelle, who was Melinda's best friend. The first interaction that Melinda had after the event was in the cafeteria with Rachel, where she whispers, “i hate you,” from where she is seated (5). Since the people involved are not even slightly curious as to why or what could have happened to make Melinda call the cops, she becomes alienated. Melinda later becomes friends with Heather, their relationship is based on using each other. Melinda uses Heather so she is not alone. While Heather uses Melinda, so she can help her complete activities to join the Martha’s. When you start relying on someone and you still get omitted, it doesn’t make you overcome the wound, in fact, it adds more injuries. Compared to Heather and Rachel, when Melinda meets Ivy and David Petrakis she starts opening up. David is a role-model as he is the only one who helps her speak up. David does not know what Melinda has been through, yet Melinda still went to him when she didn't want to speak for her suffragette presentation. He helps her but later tells her that,"The suffragettes were all about speaking up, [and she] can't speak up for [her] right to be silent." This connects Melinda to the women in the past, who spoke for their rights. In contradiction, Melinda stays silent for hers, which won't have as great an effect (159). Ivy is the first person to understand and agree with Melinda. She also thinks that Andy Evans, Melinda's assaulter is bad news. When Melinda realizes
Family dynamics are patterns in the relationships between family members. Every family has its own dynamics and there are very different from one another because of the many aspects that influence them such as the numbers of members in the family, the personalities of the individuals, the cultural background, the economic status, values, and personal family experiences. This paper will analyze the two different relationship patterns found in the poem “Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead,” by Andrew Hudgins and in the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. By interpreting those two sources through Freud’s concept of family, the family environment and the relationships between the members will be analyzed to illustrate the ways family dynamics
Ordinary people is a heart wrenching story of an ordinary family in grief and evidence of self-destruction. Judith Guest takes us through the path of death, alienation of affection and attempted suicide that threaten the existence of the ordinary people. Calvin and Beth Jarrett a well to do couple living in Lake Forest, Illinois are faced by two tragic accidents which occurred the previous year. Their younger son Conrad, the only witness to his older brother’s boat accident blames himself for the incident and tries to take his own life by slitting his wrists with a razor. The author is concerned to look at what happens to ordinary people when faced with extraordinary circumstances and how it affects their lives.
Ordinary People starts off already in a broken world. Buck has died, and Conrad has already attempted suicide, therefore, healing is a main focus throughout the book. Beth and Calvin’s marriage is also very rocky and they together are trying to see if things will work out by healing and saving their relationship. Judith Guest shows the journey through Conrad’s life and his progress to becoming completely healed. Beth and Calvin’s relationship is also monitored and in the end just goes downhill by Beth leaving.
Conrad Jarret is an eighteen years old white male who live with his parent’s Beth and Calvin Jarret in an upper middle class suburban in Chicago Illinois. He is a high school junior also part of the swim team. Within the Jarret family, Beth, Conrad and Calvin all have different problems. Beth is a perfectionist who is unaccustomed with tragedy. Conrad pursuit to find himself, while trying to please the people around him, his father Calvin is cautious about his son and his feelings. Conrad 's mother refuses to forgive him for his suicide attempt, she believes he did it in order to destroy her perfectly ordered life.
...ld have been furious. But he stayed calm and by doing that Conrad could trust him and knew he was a good person. The third piece of evidence is when Conrad wouldn’t tell Dr. Berger anything about himself, he didn't scream at him saying you're wasting your money or anything like that. He opened him up with techniques and stayed calm. Conrad wouldn't tell Dr. Berger much. He kind of just painted a vivid picture in Dr. Berger’s head. But dr. Berger didn’t get frustrated he kept working at Conrad calmly and soon saw the picture in HD. So By Dr. Berger stays calm at all times made Conrad feel safer and better, faster even when Conrad would scream and swear at Conrad Dr. Berger stayed calm and content. In conclusion Dr. Berger helped Conrad and Calvin a lot by treating them as family, Dr. Berger being there for him at all times, and Dr. Berger staying calm at all times.
Family is the fundamental group of people that hones each individual into a social being and trains each person into a being that complies with various changes that may occur in one’s life. It aids in developing a person’s skills and attitude in relating to other people. If not for the family, growing and developing one’s self is a difficult and an almost impossible task to accomplish. In the article by Joan Patterson, known as Understanding Family Resilience, it had highlighted various information and explanations of how a family responds and should opt to act during times of adversity, or also known as family resilience. It is defined by McCubin, H and McCubin, M. as “characteristics, dimensions, and properties which help families to be resistant to disruption in the face of change and adaptive in the face of crisis situations.” Since change occurs on a daily basis and is entirely inevitable, the trait of a family to be flexible in adjusting is necessary. Events that may trigger changes are various crises and challenges or internal and external forces. Such occurrences that arise and are experienced by the family may draw most families to become hopeless and disoriented. In Patterson’s work, a clear explanation and citation of various instances to prove that such misfortunate events that could lead to the disorganization of a family can be avoided and be used as an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship founded in the family.