Ordinary People, Judith Guest explores these episodes of life extensively through Beth,

Calvin, Conrad, and Buck Jarrett. Buck, Conrad's older brother, died in a boating

accident. Beth, Calvin, and Conrad Jarrett all must encounter, and deal with emotions of

loss, guilt, and forgiveness in order to accept Bucks death.

Beth Jarrett, Conrad's mother and Calvin's wife, has a history of running away

from her problems, including Buck's death and Conrad's suicide attempt:

"'Don't, then!' he snarls. 'Go to Europe, why don't you? Go to hell!'....Listen, I

know why she never came out there, not once! I know! Hell, she was going to

goddamn Spain and goddamn Portugal..."1

Beth went away to Spain and Portugal because she was a perfectionist, and could not

handle anything imperfect. She also ran away because she loved Buck and Conrad

extremely and what they did hurt her. Buck and Conrad's actions hurt her so badly that

So he goes to see Dr. Burger for some help:

Conrad tried to kill himself, and there are not always signs.

"'Nobody needs you to be Buck. It's okay to just be you.'

"'You don't understand,' he says, 'it has to be somebody's fault. Or what was the

"'No,' he says wearily. 'It's nobody. It's nobody's fault.' Over and over this

'I don't know who that is anymore!' he cries.

"He made it as vicious as he could! The blood-all that blood! Oh, I will never

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Approximate Word count = 701
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)