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Family Dynamic Communication In Ordinary Families

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Over the past two weeks our class has been reading the book Ordinary People by Judith Beth. During the story the Jarret’s family dynamic communication affects all the characters because they all lack communication throughout the family and they are not able to talk about feelings or things that happen in everyday life. In the text Conrad was talking with Berger (psychiatrist and Berger “asked” How is [your] family life? [Conrad] responded by saying “me and my mother don’t get along She is very private and it doesn 't bother [me]”. (Beth,98) By having Conrad said this, this proves that the Jarret’s family dynamic system isn’t that strong and that plays a huge role in Conrad 's life. If Conrad doesn 't feel that motherly love from Beth than he …show more content…

the jarrett family has many other things that play into their lives. The family past has brought great effect on all of the family members. In the story Conrad is meeting his old friend from the hospital (Karen) in a diner. After a while Karen says that “she can 't keep seeing {him} because it is not good for both of them to remind each other what happened in the past” (Beth,57) The past has really affected conrad and by having Karen said this, it brings sadness and makes conrad feel upset because they used to be good friends and he was looking to reconnect in some way. As past has come up a few times in the story another huge part in the story is Conrad’s brother who died in a boat incident when the two boys were younger. In the story on page (Beth,218) it says that “(buck) Conrad’s brother let go of the boat and drowned in Lake Michigan. This event in the story was a huge role in Conrad and to his parents (Beth) (Calvin) because later in life [Conrad] was a victim of suicide. From all of this happening in Conrad’s life it all weighed in on him and affected they way he thought which lead him to a suicidal attempt. The past on Conrad’s life has been very hard and now he is looking for a way to get back on track and be

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