What Is The Conflict In The Movie Ordinary People

Now, any normal mother would say, “come on now, do not be sad. Eat your breakfast”, but not in this case. She immediately takes his breakfast and throws it away without even making sure he didn't want it. Now this behavior is called being passive agressive. It is what she didn't say which hurt the most to Conrad. The way she should have reacted to him should have been more concerning. She should have made sure he was okay and asked why he is avoiding breakfast and being more quiet. It was the mother’s lack of concern for anyone but herself which caused the family predicament to escalate. The next significant conflict rising from neglect of addressing the real issue is between Calvin, Conrad’s father, and Beth, Conrad’s mother. This conflict was, in my opinion, the main conflict of the story. This can be proven through continued arguments where the father is left facing his wife and always gets an ultimatum of choosing his wife or Conrad. An excellent example is when Conrad and Calvin get home from buying a christmas tree. Beth confronts Conrad about quitting the swimming team and blows up the entire situation into making it about how he is a bad kid and then about how it will affect her image.

He is definitely feels guilty for the accident even though he couldn't do anything to try and prevent his brother’s death. He definitely went through the bargain stage before everything and is now going through it once again. Conrad is really hard on himself. He punishes himself because he thinks that if he is punished enough, he won't feel bad. Conrad feels guilty and responsible for the death of his brother even though, there is nothing he could have done better to save him. He is similar to his father in that he feels responsible and

With this new way of communicating his thoughts and feelings, Conrad becomes noticeably more outgoing in what he says and does in his social life, which is where the problem comes into play. He goes around with these new feelings and thoughts saying and doing what he is thinking and he sometimes says or does things that hurt, surprised, and confused some people. An example of this would be when Conrad, his mother, and his father have their argument by the Christmas tree. So, in a way, Conrad’s self-concept was both helped and hindered at the same

Conrad engages in silence and violence to attempt to avoid accepting his true feelings. The first example would be when he and his mother, Beth, are arguing about him quitting the swim team, and Conrad exits the room and goes upstairs. This is a classic example of withdrawing. Instead of facing the issue head on, he abandons the scene to become extremely reclusive. Conrad missed the opportunity of creating safety. He could have clarified his true intentions of quitting the swim team, but he let his emotions get in the way of clear and level-headed thinking. If he had stated

Since the accident, Conrad has socially withdrawn from his friends and activities he one enjoyed. He is having major problems reconnecting to his friends primarily because it is too painful to see them because they remind him of Buck. He also spent so much time in the psychiatric hospital that he missed out on almost an entire school year. He has made a connection to Karen, a fellow patient, while receiving treatment and they have formed a special bond. She had been suffering from depression and had also attempted suicide. Conrad would call her whenever he was feeling down and she was the one person he felt really understood him. Unfortunately, Karen lost her battle with depression and suddenly committed suicide. Losing this support has devastated Conrad. He now cannot adjust to his normal life and literally feels alone in his struggle.

More therapy sessions, both individual and family. Throughout the book the therapy sessions with Dr. Berger appear to really help Conrad, even if he doesn’t believe it himself. An additional session with his family could prove to be very successful. Conrad is trying to find a way off the hook for the death of his brother, a family session could help give him peace, and clearly the negativity from Beth would not be welcomed. I believe starting a romantic relationship would also be beneficial because it would give Conrad someone to talk intimately with, as well as a way to keep his mind off the past and toward the future. The last adjustment would be to find a new hobby, obviously swimming is no a longer an answer, but having something to do to past the time could help

Conrad avoids conflict whenever possible, except with his mother. Conrad and his mother confide in their avoidance of each other and the sensitive topics that come about when they speak, which leads to judgement towards each other and boils up to conversations where emotions take a lead and feelings of blame and guilt prevail. During one conversation, towards the end of the movie, Conrad finally expresses emotions towards his mother. However, these emotions are more hostile and ends with Conrad withdrawing to his room and Beth angry and avoiding talking to Calvin in the living room. Since Conrad had yelled at his father, telling him to give the camera to his mother, Beth felt attacked by the comment. While in his bedroom, Calvin comes in to talk to Conrad, this is where Conrad expressed his feeling that Beth hated him. If Beth had expressed her real intentions, and had created safety for Conrad, he wouldn’t have felt as if she hated him. When Beth and Conrad speak to each other, they both needed to use calm voices instead of yelling, and reassure confidence within their relationship to help clarify any chances of

The relationships between mother and son are different than father and son. Beth believes that her relationship with Conrad is best served by being distant. She feels that by giving him space he will be able to make better life choices and be

Beth is too concerned of how people view her, than the fact that her son; Conrad is lost and needs her support. She is also one who does not show her emotions, especially towards Conrad. Throughout the book she seems to avoid conrad after he tried to attempt suicide. Perhaps she favored Buck, and blames Conrad for his death, or can't forgive Conrad for being depressed and attempting suicide.Beth has pushed away her son and her husband. She deals with Buck’s tragedy by avoiding to talk about it. In the novel Beth states, “ That whole vicious thing! He made it as vicious, as sickening as he could! The blood- all that blood! Oh, I will never forgive him for it! He wanted it to kill me, too!”( Guest 237). This exposes how Beth will never forgive Conrad for attempting suicide, she will always have a grudge against him. What kind of mother is beth to abandoned her child over a act of depression?

a. This meeting will help Conrad and his family cope better over the death in the family.

Conrad is angry, angry at his mom. He finally let his anger out and is no longer storing it. He is angry at his parents because he thinks that they don't care about him. When he was in the hospital, his mother come to visit him. He is probably mad over that. However, he finally has a connection. Even though it anger, he is healing. Instead of suppressing it, he feels it, he feels the emotions he has been suppressing, and through it, he heals. However, he hasn't gotten to the source of the anger, and can't fully heal until he

Calvin, the father, age 41, is an attorney in a well-established law firm in Chicago. He has been acting as the mediator between Beth and Conrad. He was emotional about the loss of his son, Buck, and is concerned about Conrad’s mental health after his suicide attempt.

Denial is a defense involving a refusal to accept reality by blocking out the truth of the situation. While Conrad still accepts the fact that Buck did die, he does not wish to live his life thinking about it. When asked about his well being by Calvin, his teachers, and friends, Conrad always insisted that he was fine, even though he really wasn 't. During their first meeting, Dr. Berger asks Conrad," 'I suppose

Like any father whom had lost their son, Calvin goes through a long and sad grieving period. Calvin on page 145-146, went through denial. It says on those pages, “He shifts uneasily in the chair. “I don't really believe in psychiatrists," he says. Berger laughs. "Okay. What do I do now? Disappear in a puff of smoke?" "I didn't mean that. I meant that I don't believe in psychiatry. As a blanket. A panacea for everybody, you know?" "Okay," Berger says. "Me neither."… "I'm not putting you down," he says. "Or what you've done for him. He's better, I can see that." "Well, he's working at it, now." He feels trapped and hot. "I knew something was wrong," he says. "Even before. But I always thought -- I mean, he's very smart. He's been an all-A

To help Charlotte get better, they both take a vacation to the countryside where they rent a mansion to during their stay. Charlotte starts writing a secret journal even though John told her not to write because it filled her with make belief. By reading Charlotte secret journal the reader can tell that Charlotte is getting worse, she became paranoid, obsess with the yellow wallpaper in their bedroom thinking that it alive and that a woman lives behind the wallpaper. She aversions it when people go near hers’ yellow wallpaper. In the end, Charlotte became crazy, Charlotte would have to be hospitalized in a mental hospital and of course, they both eventually