Ordinary People Identity Essay

Over the course of the novel Ordinary People, Conrad Jarrett has struggled to find his own identity. Judith Guest starts this novel off with an awkward relationship between Conrad, his mother, Beth, and his father, Calvin. After the passing of his brother Buck, Conrad goes into a super-deep depression. There are many people who have had a significant impact on Conrad throughout this novel, Karen, Lazenby, and Dr. Berger, all play a crucial role in Conrad finding his true identity. Through the ups and the downs of this novel Judith Guest has shown us what it was like as if we were in the Jarrett family. Judith Guest uses a good amount of metaphors and smilies to describe to you vividly everything that is happening in the Jarrett household.

Karen and Conrad have bonded over their time in the mental hospital; Once they leave the hospital there is no real reason for them to keep in contact unless it is to just check up on one another. “The only one who can help you is you,” Karen tells Conrad this when they meet at a diner to catch up. Later Karen says that she needs to leave early because she has things to do but Conrad thinks that he did something to make her leave, he feels like he is always the one driving people away. This brings Conrad's confidence down significantly, he has trouble making friends let alone keeping them and when he finally had someone to talk to she left. As the novel continues Conrad gets worse and he can't seem to find a way out of his depressive episode until one day he read the newspaper; “Teenager committed suicide” Conrad instantly was overflowed with a wave of shock and guilt, he couldn't believe she had given in and let her thoughts overpower her. After Karen's death, it

Crawford referred Conrad to Dr. Berger; Conrad believes that psychiatrists can’t help him with getting better, and they are just a bunch of oddballs. As proven throughout the novel Conrad has gone through many obstacles that have shaped the way that he is today.“Conrad is not easily charmed. Or fooled. Eccentricity. A favorite put-on of psychiatrists. He does not trust them. Too many oddballs are floating around the hospital. Only Crawford had behaved as if he knew what he was doing.” After many visits with Dr. Berger, they started to grow with each other, Dr. Berger understands that therapy is the last thing Conrad wants to do so he makes it all about him. If Conrad wants to open up he can make that decision on his own without being pressured to share. Conrad's lack of communication has been a common recurrence in this novel when it comes to him sharing his problems with Berger. “Maybe you gotta feel lousy sometime in order to feel better.” In chapter 12 Dr. Berger tells Conrad this because Conrad tends to feel like everything is his fault and that he should be blamed for every minor inconvenience that pops up. Dr. Berger throughout the novel has had this ambition to help Conrad’s mental wellbeing. In the beginning of the novel Conrad is this closed off, stubborn, unmotivated, and hopeless he has learned that he can not simply give up, there is no sympathy for people who just give up and don't try again. Berger has played a significant