In the book Ordinary people by Judith Guest it shows how the book advocates for the therapist by Dr. Berger helping Conrad and his dad, Dr. Berger is there for him at all times, and Dr. Berger stays calm at all times.
Dr. Berger helped Conrad and Calvin in many ways, Conrad and Calvin were going through a hard time and Dr. Berger really helped there problems. Dr. Berger was one of the main reasons why Conrad got better and without Dr. Berger helping him he maybe wouldn’t have gotten better. The first way Dr. Berger helped Conrad was by letting Conrad know he could trust him and know everything he said would stay right in that room. That opened Conrad up a lot more making it easier for Dr. Berger to understand his problems. This helped because Conrad didn’t have anyone he could trust. No one he could open up and let out all his feelings to. Conrad needed that very badly. Conrad could yell to him and let out all his feelings inside and Conrad couldn’t do that with anyone else. The next piece of evidence for how Dr. Berger helped Conrad is he lets Conrad cry for him and Dr. Berger comforts him. Like in the book after he found out Karen died, he went to Dr. Berger’s and cried to him. He didn’t cry to his dad, but cried to his therapist. In the book Conrad never had someone he could cry to, he always had to deal with everything on his own. But now that he has someone that is Dr. Berger he could cry to someone. By crying to someone he got all of his emotions out instead of just keeping them in and letting them build up to where he might kill himself again. The last reason why Dr. Berger made Conrad feel like family was by Dr. Berger supporting Conrad’s decisions and not getting mad at him at all, it showed that Conrad could trust him...
... middle of paper ...
...ld have been furious. But he stayed calm and by doing that Conrad could trust him and knew he was a good person. The third piece of evidence is when Conrad wouldn’t tell Dr. Berger anything about himself, he didn't scream at him saying you're wasting your money or anything like that. He opened him up with techniques and stayed calm. Conrad wouldn't tell Dr. Berger much. He kind of just painted a vivid picture in Dr. Berger’s head. But dr. Berger didn’t get frustrated he kept working at Conrad calmly and soon saw the picture in HD. So By Dr. Berger stays calm at all times made Conrad feel safer and better, faster even when Conrad would scream and swear at Conrad Dr. Berger stayed calm and content. In conclusion Dr. Berger helped Conrad and Calvin a lot by treating them as family, Dr. Berger being there for him at all times, and Dr. Berger staying calm at all times.
Throughout the novel one person who had an affect on Conrad was his father. From the beginning of the novel, Con’s father had an understanding of him. From talking to spending time with Con, his father was there most of the time. When Conrad was confused or had a question, his father would try to help and answer him to the best of his ability. Because his father was put into a home I think that he was able to understand Con a lot more. Just as understanding he was also caring. Whenever Con felt upset or happy, his father was there to share the experience. His father would always make sure that Con was all right. His father cared so much that he gave Con a number of a psychiatrist. Unlike the mother, the father would like to see Con back to normal.
Conrad experienced a tremendous amount of psychological pain because of the loss he felt, he had no one to talk to about the death of his brother and best friend in the boating accident which resulting in a suicide attempt. The relationships he had with his mother Beth and his swim team friends suffered dramatically because of all of the pain he held
At first Conrad did not know who he was or what his purpose was, when he came home form the hospital. Con had no sense of direction because at the hospital there was an everyday routine that he got used to. When he came home he made up his own routine in the beginning. He tried to go back to what every thing was like before his decsion. But he was unable to. He was trying to take one day at time. One thing was true though "Things were so different at the hospital. People were, you know, turned on all the time. And u just cannot live like that. You cannot live with all that emotion floating around, looking for a place to land. It is do exhausting (55, Guest)." This quote is trying to say that at the hospital people were like machines. The staff told them what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Outside the hospital you get to make your own choices.
There are many important themes and subjects addressed in the book. Most importantly is how Conrad deals with his emotions and comes to accept and forgive what has happened to him. And the author shows us that this can only be done by love, support, and trust. Conrad thinks by not expressing his emotions he is less vulnerable but instead he drifts farther apart from his family. The ordeal of attempted suicide and treatment has left him feeling insecure and vulnerable and he instinctively puts up shields. Trying to appear calm and determined on the outside, he is still very confused, angry and is afraid he slip away again only to kill himself. He still feels responsible for his brother's death due to the fact his mom doesn't want to forgive him and the only way to punish himself is to deny, suppress, and control his feelings lest they give him away. It is not until the very end when Conrad?s father, Calvin finally stops skirting around the subject but tells him that he loves him and that they finally develop a sense of trust and security in one another: -
Conrad's psychological problems generated from the facts that he repressed his feelings and that he looked to others for approval. He hid all his feeling and emotions and judged himself based on what others saw and thought. When Miss Melon, Conrad's English teacher, asked him, "Do you want an extension?" Conrad's immediate response was "NO"(18). He rejected her offer of assistance because he felt that help took away from his dignity and self pride. Conrad internalized what everyone else said and did and judged himself based on this. Conrad thought about himself: "All his fault. All connections with him result in failure. Loss. Evil… Everywhere he looks, there is competence and good health… He does not want to contaminate, does not wish to find further evidence of his lack of worth"(116). Conrad looked at everyone else and concluded that everyone else was "ordinary" and that he was a problem. He was afraid that since he was not "normal," ...
Conrad and his father, Calvin, had a very good and strong trusting relationship. Although Conrad was stubborn and didn't want to speak of his
Conrad was a suicidal boy who didn’t know what to do with his life. Confused and hopeless someone needed to help, shape his life around and make everything better. Someone with experience, someone to help make him better, someone to help turn his whole life around. His brother died and he witnessed it. When Conrad witnessed a death of a close one his soul and heart were broken for ever and it needs someone to help heal and bandage it up. He also heard about the girl he was in the hospital with committed suicide at the end of the book. He was devastated and he didn't know what to do, so we would go to talk to one person he trusted which was Dr. Berger. Dr. Berger changed his whole life around and helped him be a man that he always wanted to be. Conrad looked up to his brother, that was his role model and he couldn't do anything to help him in the last moments of Buck’s life. Dr. Berger helped him in so many ways, get through obstacles he would of never got through alone. Not only was Dr. Berger his Doctor but he was his friend, his only friend he could really trust. Dr. Berger helped Conrad get his life more in “control”.
The movie “Ordinary People” was a very entertaining and educational movie. It looked into the dynamics of families and showed the different parts and dependencies. It also looked into a type of client/therapist relationship and how it evolved over time. The discussion below will attempt to explore deeper into these aspect of the film.
First, I must define each figure in Conrad's novel with its appropriate Freudian psyche. These psyche are defined in an essay by Ross C. Murfin's essay, "Psychoanalytic Criticism in The Awakening":
Berger, twice a week for an hour each day. During the visits, Conrad is able to talk about feelings he has relating to Buck, his parents and his hospitalization. Dr. Berger, in my opinion, follows Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic model. Conrad is encouraged to use free association, to freely express himself about anything on his mind, no matter how disturbing. Conrad begins to express his dreams, and slowly begins to let his suppressed feelings out. Dr. Berger also challenges Conrad causing him to get upset and start yelling but soon after relaxes. He tries to comfort Conrad about Beth loving him just don’t knowing the ideal way to show
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.
Conrad’s coach had a discussion with him about his position on the team as well as Conrad’s time in the hospital and this is when we find out he underwent shock therapy as a means to help him. After this, Conrad calls the psychiatrist, Dr. Berger to set up an appointment and at this time he seems anxious and uncomfortable, maybe even regretting calling the psychiatrist in the first place. In their first session together, Conrad expresses that he is only there because he wants to learn how to control his emotions so that people will stop worrying about him, not to work on himself. Although this was initially what they worked on, Dr. Berger helped Conrad learn to express himself instead of holding his feelings back, even if that meant displaying anger towards others including his mother and his
Portion of the reasons for this problem stems from the circumstance that he observed the death of Buck at sea during the storm. He answers to the death of Buck in pain which is readily apparent leading him to act out of the ordinary. The movie recounts a scenario where he had tried to commit suicide after the death of his brother leading in his hospitalization. It is accurate that he continued to hold responsibility for the death of his brother therefore leading to his depression state even after being released from the hospital. Subsequently, the outcomes of this response are captured in his removal from friends and the deficiency of enjoyment in life. In spite of these sad feelings, Conrad holds the feelings following in his mother’s instance. Later, however, Conrad pursues psychotherapy help from Dr. Berger after reassurance from his father. The therapist helps in the confrontation and challenges the issues facing Conrad despite his past resistance. In the course, Conrad openly vents his feelings including those of guilt. The power of the therapy on Conrad is evident in his abrupt change in life where he no longer represses anger and feelings. Eventually, he is active in confronting his guilt of surviving and resulting himself an opportunity to appreciate
In the film and the novel, the point of view of the narrator is very important to the reader's respectively to the viewer's perception of him. Joseph Conrad builds his novel as a story which is t...
I will choose Conrad’s father, Calvin. Although I am a female, I think that he is the one of the characters who in this book can connect to me the most. As I know that he always care about his son, Conrad even he lost an elder son already. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with Conrad. He doesn’t know how he can really help Conrad either. All in his mind is that his son is not okay but he never tell. So he asked Conrad to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Berger. It maybe a way that can help his son but not perfect. At least he tried. I appreciate it because I know that it is not easy to communicate to a person who has a very large generation gap even he or she is important to you. For me, I don’t even know which way to talk with my parents is the most suitable too. They always have a different point of view that I don’t agree with. For example, my mom always tell what she is angry for. No matter it is my business or not. when every time she complains, I will give her response or advice. But she thinks that I am challenging her… So I started to be a “listener”. I only listen what she is complaining and shut my mouth. The relationship between us seems good when I start to shut