Essay 1- Ordinary People

Judith Guest’s moving novel, Ordinary People illustrates the devastation resulting from the loss of a loved one. Conrad Jarrett demonstrates the difficulties associated with death.

Conrad and his older brother, Buck, were very close. They would do everything together; a boating trip was not unusual to either of them. When a large storm came a flipped the boat over both fought hard for their lives, and Buck lost his fight. This devastating accident of Buck’s passing causes Conrad to become depressed and blame himself for surviving.

This depression causes Conrad to take a razor blade and slice both arteries in his forearms in an attempt to commit suicide. His parent’s find him and call an ambulance. He survives and is sent to spend a year in a psychological ward. When Conrad is released from the hospital, he goes back to school a different person. His experience caused him to become antisocial and reserved. The death of his one and only brother affects Conrad in ways that cannot be predicted.

Conrad’s struggle to gain beck what he has emotionally lost is one of self-allowance. He must learn how to allow himself to feel emotion in order to forgive himself for the suicide he attempted and for the drowning of his brother he had no control over. His difficulties show how hard it is to endure such a sudden loss of someone close.

Guest uses Conrad as a way to express the pain and suffering one goes through during emotional times. The loss of someone close can be hard, but with endurance and strength the moment will pass.

Grade: 8.5