The Theme Of Tragedy In Judith Guest's Ordinary People

When one is recovering from a tragic or life changing crisis, he or she can find it difficult to fall back into the swing of things. Some are guided by society, while others encounter obstacles on the road to recovery. In the novel, Ordinary People, Judith Guest portrays the struggles one can face in his or her everyday life, while trying to mend from a horrific event. After Conrad, the main character, loses his brother to a boating accident, his guilty conscience begins to overcome him. Blaming himself for the death of Jordan, Conrad attempts to commit suicide. He then spends the next four months in a hospital, meeting many people who he shares this similar experience with, like Karen. Although he sees a doctor, Berger, and seems to be recovering,

Guest utilizes the motifs of tragedy and guilt to express how negative influences impact Conrad’s emotional course taken to recovery.
When Conrad learns of a tragic event, he becomes mentally trapped in the present. After reading in the paper about the suicide of one of Conrad’s friends, Karen, he is sent into a panic. With confusion and shock overwhelming him, he cannot comprehend his own thoughts. That night, Conrad “[…] awakens to fear again; his mouth dry. For terror-filled seconds he doesn’t know if it is happening all over again. Or worse, that time has tipped backward and it is happening still” (Guest 214). This exposes Conrad’s inner emotions and feelings towards the incident with Karen. He believed she was in a stable position and that her condition was improving. These thoughts overwhelm Conrad with doubt because now he, himself, is unsure if he has progressed at all. He feels as though time is turning back and ‘it’ is happening again. This is a setback for Conrad because he has lost the ability to recognize the strength within

After Karen dies, something in Conrad’s mind sparks, and he begins to think a lot about Jordan. While visiting Dr. Berger, Conrad is a mess as they discuss his brother, and all he begs for is forgiveness. When Berger asks what for, Conrad cries“[f]or killing him, don’t you know that? For letting him drown” (Guest 223). Here, Conrad exposes his emotions towards the death of his brother. All this time, guilt has been Conrad’s shadow, and he has kept it to himself. He feels as if he could have done more to help save Buck and therefore, must take all the blame. Conrad cannot move past this until he is somehow punished, and until that happens, he will not make a full recovery. Conrad feels guilty for being unable to help Jordan, but he also feels guilty for another reason. While Conrad talks with his doctor about Buck, Berger addresses an important issue with Conrad. While he looks for someone to assign the blame to, Conrad becomes frustrated and Berger explains to him that blame is not the moral of the story. He tells it as “[n]o one needs [him] to be Buck. It’s okay to just be [himself]” (Guest 224). Conrad has been trying to fill Jordan’s shoes ever since he left. He wanted to take on the responsibility of being a perfect son for his parents. Conrad knew a big task like this requires lots of hard work, and eventually, he just could not handle all the pressure anymore.