The Impact Of Ordinary People

As people live their daily lives, they have an effect on others whether that is knowingly or unknowingly. These effects can be positive or negative, but either way they contribute in the making of individuals identities. People that have the advantage of having someone come into their life, and help them form a healthy identity are quite lucky. In Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, Conrad was an adolescent who was severely depressed until he met that person that helped him form a healthy identity. The person who did this was his psychiatrist named Dr. Berger, and he helped Conrad transform his identity from a confused to a confident person. Conrad’s psychiatrist prevented him from self harm, helped reduce his guilt and influenced him to make the right decisions, which ultimately boosted his confidence.

To begin with, his psychiatrist, Dr. Berger prevented Conrad from further self- harm. In the beginning of the book, Conrad tried to commit suicide because he felt at fault for his brothers death. He ended up in a hospital for nine months until he was stable enough to return back home. Even when Conrad returned home, he was not emotionally cured, and continued to be deeply troubled. Later on in the book one of Conrad’s close friend that he had met at the hospital named Karen commits suicide. He ended up going to talk to Dr. Berger about it after he could not handle the pain anymore, and Dr. Berger says to him “Kiddo, you know the statistics. Out of every hundred, fifty are gonna try it again. Fifteen eventually make it”(Guest 226). When Berger said this to Conrad he made him see that even though he had a fair chance of attempting suicide again like Karen, he was still alive and staying strong. This kept him from self-harm, because h...

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...or part in transforming Conrad’s identity from a confused boy to a confident man. He did this by preventing him from self harm, reducing his guilt and influencing him to make the correct decisions. Dr. Berger arrived at Conrad’s life at a critical time when Conrad was in the middle of an identity crisis. Without Dr. Berger’s help, Conrad may not have been able to recover from his trauma, and find his identity. People like Dr. Berger that are loyal to helping others get through a hard time are much significant in peoples lives. They give others reasons to keep living, and that is one of the best gift someone can give to another person. Ordinary People by Judith Guest exemplifies the importance ordinary people have in shaping one’s identity and how much effect they have on our daily lives.

Works Cited

Guest, Judith. Ordinary People. New York: Viking, 1976. Print.