Judith Guest's "Ordinary People": Summary
Judith Guest's "Ordinary People": Summary
Ordinary People by Judith Guest is the story of a dysfunctional family
who relate to one another through a series of extensive defense mechanisms, i.e.
an unconscious process whereby reality is distorted to reduce or prevent
anxiety. The book opens with seventeen year old Conrad, son of upper middle-
class Beth and Calvin Jarrett, home after eight months in a psychiatric
hospital, there because he had attempted suicide by slashing his wrists. His
mother is a meticulously orderly person who, Jared, through projection, feels
despises him. She does all the right things; attending to Jared's physical
needs, keeping a spotless home, plays golf and bridge with other women in her
social circle, but, in her own words "is an emotional cripple". Jared's
father, raised in an orphanage, seems anxious to please everyone, a commonplace
reaction of individuals who, as children, experienced parental indifference or
inconsistency. Though a......
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Approximate Word Count: 1699
Approximate Pages: 7 (250 words per double-spaced page)
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