Extraorinary Conflicts
Ordinary People by Judith Guest is a very emotional book that deals with manythoughts and actions about life and suicide. A lot of people would have different opinionsor perspectives about this story. My thesis question for this book is: Does the authorJudith Guest try to prove that even the perfect family can fall apart? In this novel, regularor "ordinary people" have to learn to cope with many extraordinary crises. In Ordinary People, Conrad Jarrett is a seventeen year old boy attending a publichigh school in the suburbs of Illinois. He and his family go through many stressfulstruggles after Conrad's brother Jordan dies in a boating accident. Jordan's deathinfluences Conrad so much that he even cuts up his wrists and tries to commit suicide buthe does not die. Conrad struggles with a lot of things including school, quitting theswimming team, and his friends. Conrad's mother Beth, is a perfectionist and is alwaysconcerned about the way people view her and her family. She wishes for everyone to seethem as "normal". Conrad's Dad Cal feels he is somewhat responsible for Conrad'ssuicide attempt. He also believes that Conrad and Beth are drifting a
One reason they fight is because Cal lets Conrad run over him a lot and hetalks back to Cal a lot. The dialogue in this story is very realistic. Everything and everyoneseems to fall apart after his accident. The end of the bookwas easier for me because everything started falling into place and I was able to see allsides of the story. Although Conrad's parents do not actually feel this way aboutit, Conrad does. He also has terriblenightmares that are internal. Anothermotivate that is important to him is his girlfriend Jeannine. Beth does not agree with him at all so she gets irritated easily. He does not realize how important friends are. " This is unusual because it is almost likeJesus Christ is talking to Conrad personally. The main conflict in this book for the Jarrett family is learning to cope withextraordinary crises. I think the narrator best states the end of the book when they are talking aboutConrad saying: "No need for anymore words. " As you can see in this book, Judith Guest does prove that even the perfect familycan fall apart. Thisbrings much tension between Conrad and his mother Beth.
Common topics in this essay:
Jesus Christ,
Conrad Beth,
Judith Guest,
Cal Beth,
Conrad's Jordan,
Ordinary People,
Beth Jordan,
Beth Conrad,
Jeanine Conrad,
Cal's Beth's,
ordinary people,
fall apart,
commit suicide,
perfect family,
jordan's death,
family fall,
family fall apart,
perfect family fall,
jarrett family,
judith guest,
swimming team friends,
cal beth,
prove perfect family,
conflict conrad,
quitting swimming team,
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Acceptance Essays
