Ordinary Relationships In Judith Guest's Ordinary People

Not So Ordinary Relationships

“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak”(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
In the novel Ordinary People by Judith Guest, readers are shown a family broken by the loss of a son and eldest brother. The novel follows the aftermath that ensues from the point of view of the father and younger brother. The father, Calvin, relies on his wife, Beth, as an authority figure and support after his past father figure cuts him out of his life. When he can no longer look towards Beth for authority, he learns to become the authority figure he kept searching for. The younger brother, Conrad, is learning to trust and respect his father while also learning how to be himself after losing Buck. The relationship between Conrad

Calvin starts to realize that Beth may not be everything he thinks she is. Beth starts to ignore Calvin’s concerns for Conrad and tries to make everything about their family appear to be normal to anyone looking in. This creates a rift between the two of them ultimately causing Calvin to no longer see Beth as an authority figure and takes her off her pedestal. Calvin no longer has any authoritative figures to look up to and struggles. He ends up going to Doctor Berger for advice because he is lost and confused, “‘I’m drifting now. I can see myself-I see both of them, drifting away from me while I stand there. Watching. And I don’t know what to do about it’”(147). He is losing everyone important in his life for the fourth time. He has lost his mother, his father figure, his eldest son, and now his wife and youngest child are drifting farther away than he feels he is able to reach. He is lost without that core being in his life and has to figure out how to live like that. This affects his relationship with Conrad because he no longer knows how to parent him. He is learning from past mistakes and takes time to worry for Conrad, but he does not know how to fully talk to Conrad about the problems both of them are having. He starts to treat Conrad like he is fragile and could break at any moment. Conrad does not want this and wishes for Clavin to parent him like a normal parent. Their relationship becomes distant and bewildering, keeping both of them at arms