The novel, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, takes place in Lake Forest, Illinois, during the 1970s. The story centers on the Jarrett family—Calvin, Beth, and their son Conrad. They are mourning the older Jarrett son, Buck, who was killed in a boating accident. Conrad felt so guilty about Buck’s death that he attempted suicide by slashing his wrists before the novel begins. Guest uses three points of view to tell the story, allowing Calvin and Conrad to narrate their own internal conflicts in alternating chapters and also occasionally using an omniscient narrator. Beth’s character is developed through the point of view of her husband or her son.
Screenwriter Alvin Sargent meticulously adapted Ordinary People for the screen. Director Robert Redford, in contrast to Guest, adheres to a traditional onscreen storytelling style with an omniscient point of view and a focus on characterization through action. Redford cuts and combines certain scenes and rearranges the order of certain plot points, altering the chronology of Guest’s original story.
Opening Scenes
The film version of Ordinary People opens with several quick camera shots to set the scene. First, the camera pans over a serene setting: empty winding roads, fallen leaves over a small bridge, a pier jutting out over calm water. Next the scene cuts to an imposing school, where inside a student choir sings ‘‘Hallelujah.’’ Next Conrad Jarrett, a boy from the choir, wakes up in bed in a sweat.
Viewers next see a stage play in which a husband and wife are having a conversation. The husband tells his wife that he doesn’t know a thing about her—especially little things, like what perfume she wears—but he has always been in love with her. The camera pans to the audience, where Beth and Calvin Jarrett are sitting. Calvin is asleep. In the car on the way home, Beth remarks on Calvin’s quiet mood. When they get home, Beth sees Conrad’s bedroom light on, but ignores it. Calvin goes in to talk to his son and asks if he is okay. Later that night in bed, Calvin makes love to his wife.
The next morning, Beth makes breakfast, while upstairs in his bedroom, Conrad appears anxious. He finally goes downstairs, but declines the French toast Beth offers. She dumps it down the sink even though Calvin tells her not to waste it. Beth rushes out. Calvin assures his son that they just want him to get stronger and suggests he start bringing friends home again. Calvin also asks if Conrad has called the doctor.
The novel opens with similar domestic scenes, but focuses more on internal conflict. In his room, Conrad dreads the day before him and sees routine tasks as daunting. Calvin and Beth are also beginning their day. Calvin, who was raised in an orphanage, thinks about how his fatherless childhood has affected him as a father. Calvin seems lost as his son. Calvin, Beth, and Conrad spend a tense breakfast together.
Family and Friends
Conrad waits outside for his friends to pick him up for school. They tease him about the fact he has to repeat eleventh grade because he missed final exams. The car stops for a train, and Conrad flashes back to a cemetery. After the train passes they continue on; when they see Jeannine Pratt walking to school, they harass her a bit.
In English class, Conrad’s teacher asks him for his theory on Thomas Hardy’s ‘‘Jude Frawley,’’ and inquires if Conrad thinks he is a ‘‘powerless’’ character. Conrad eats lunch alone on the bleachers outside and later nervously calls Dr. Berger to set up a meeting. At swim practice, Coach Salan pushes Conrad to perform better. Later, Beth, Calvin, and Conrad have dinner together. The mood is tense and quiet. Beth talks only about superficial things, and does not address the tension in the room. She tells Calvin about a party they have to attend, but Calvin doesn’s want to go.
The film illustrates the internal conflict Guest portrays in the novel through visuals, while the novel strives for a balance of ‘‘showing and telling.’’ Similar to the film, the novel demonstrates Conrad’s uncertainty and unease with his life through tense conversations with his parents, his swimming coach, and his old friends. But the novel also allows the reader inside Conrad’s emotional state. For example, in the novel, as Conrad waits for his friend Lazenby to pick him up for school, the reader is privy to Conrad’s anxiety. He fears his mental instability is creeping back and feels guilty about worrying his parents. The reader also gets an inside view of Conrad’s crush on a new girl at school, Jeannine Pratt, as well as his insecurities about swimming.
Flashbacks and Therapy
Conrad dreams about being caught with his brother Buck in a storm. The film cuts to Conrad standing in front of a building and contemplating whether to go inside. In the elevator Conrad looks nervous and practices small talk aloud. He enters the office; Dr. Berger tells him to sit. Conrad does not. Berger asks why he was in the hospital. Conrad says, ‘‘I tried to off myself.’’ Berger inquires about the method and begins questioning him about his feelings. Conrad admits he wants to be more in control. He also confesses he does not like the idea of seeing a psychiatrist. Berger says he knows Conrad had a brother who died in a boating accident. Berger also says he is ‘‘not big on control.’’ Conrad decides to see Berger instead of attending swimming practice.
The scene cuts to Beth and shows how extremely organized her kitchen drawers are. Conrad tells Calvin that he went to see Dr. Berger, and an encouraging Calvin asks how the therapy went. The scene then jumps to Conrad at swim practice, where Salan dresses him down and grills him about the therapy methods used in the psychiatric hospital. The scene changes again to Conrad in the school hallway with friends. He meets Jeannine, who compliments him on his singing in choir.
The film omits a detail about Berger that the novel uses as a form of character development. When Conrad meets Berger, the doctor’s office has just been robbed. Despite the incident, however, Berger is unconcerned. He seems rather indifferent to the fact that someone broke in, but wonders what to do about the mess left behind. Conrad asks if Berger is going to call the police, but the doctor dismisses the idea because he is certain that calling them would not do any good. This scene between Conrad and Berger establishes Berger as a man who doesn’t think too highly of doing things the conventional way. In contrast, the film version of Berger comes across in a more serious, straightforward manner.
Memories
In the film, Beth answers the door to greet trickor-treaters with homemade treats. She mentions spending Christmas in London, but Calvin does not think a holiday is a good idea. Beth wants to get back to normal. The scene jumps to Beth coming home to an empty house. She opens a closed bedroom door and goes inside. She sits on the bed and gazes at her deceased son’s belongings. The camera pans around the room to the awards and trophies. Conrad pokes his head in the room, startling his mother. Beth gasps and Conrad apologizes profusely. He tries to make small talk and reaches out to her, but she avoids him.
Rather than focusing on Beth, the novel reaches deeper into Calvin’s psychological conflicts as he thinks about the argument with his wife and why he feels tempted by his attractive secretary, Cherry. For example, he wonders who he really is, and recalls his youthful dreams of becoming a soldier or an athlete. He questions his career choice, remembering how he took up a law career after his mentor, the famous tax attorney Arnold Bacon, offered him advice and a clerkship. Calvin also realizes that he never learned how to deal with grief.
Privacy, Dreams, and the Past
Calvin and Beth drive to their friends’ party, despite the fact that Calvin does not want to go. Party guests make small talk about business, golf, and money. Calvin retreats to a staircase with friend Annie Marshall. The two talk about their kids, and Calvin tells her about Conrad’s therapy with Berger. Beth overhears, and on the drive home lashes out at Calvin for speaking about what she considers a ‘‘very private matter.’’
Conrad asks Berger if he should tell him about his dreams and wonders if he should be taking tranquilizers, because he feels ‘‘jumpy.’’ Berger does not have much faith in dream analysis or tranquilizers. Conrad thinks the hospital was easier because ‘‘nobody hid anything there.’’ In the next scene, Conrad sees Karen, a friend from the psychiatric hospital. They are awkward and tense with each other as they discuss seeing doctors. Before the scene ends, she turns around and, in a loud voice that startles other patrons in the restaurant, says, ‘‘Hey, would you cheer up?’’
The novel includes the scene in which Conrad meets up with Karen. He tells Karen that he is seeing a psychiatrist, and she admits that she once saw one too, but stopped. She tells him that he must help himself, with faith in God. The film omits Karen’s religious commitment. The novel also shows Calvin as drinking more in response to his problems. He tries to connect with Conrad and tells Beth that the family should postpone their vacation until the spring. He and Beth argue about their holiday on the way to a neighbor’s cocktail party, and in the novel, the event is depicted in a much more intimate fashion than the way it is portrayed in the film. In the novel, when the Jarretts’ friends ask Calvin and Beth about Conrad, the situation seems close, claustrophobic, almost as if Calvin and Beth feel they are under a microscope. In contrast, the party portrayed in the film is large, and when Calvin talks to a friend about Conrad, he seems to be divulging their business in a much more public forum.
Furthermore, in the novel, Guest describes Conrad’s upsetting dreams as another way for the reader to see a different level of Conrad’s fear and anxiety. For example, Conrad dreams that he is at the ocean and wanders into a drainage tunnel with walls that close in on him. Dr. Berger, whom he visits the next day, tells him the dream does not mean anything. Berger tells Conrad to lie on the floor for a ‘‘change in perspective.’’ Conrad admits he is nervous all the time and does not want to swim anymore. At the same time, he fears quitting because he does not want to seem like a failure.
Tension in the Family
The film highlights the tension between Beth and Conrad. Conrad is in the backyard staring up at the sky. Beth comes outside to see if he needs a sweater and wonders what he is thinking about. Conrad tries to bond with her by mentioning how Buck once wanted a dog. Beth changes the subject, but to get her attention, he loudly barks. Their conversation ends abruptly. Back inside the house, Beth sets the table and Conrad offers to help. She declines and tells him that he can clean the closet upstairs in his room instead, insisting that it ‘‘really is a mess.’’ The phone rings and Beth answers it, ignoring Conrad to talk with a friend. Her laughter prompts Conrad to remember Buck making his mother laugh. Conrad later talks with Berger about his problems connecting with his mother.
The scene shifts to Calvin and Ray, his law partner of many years, walking down the street. Ray says Calvin is ‘‘losing it’’ and wonders what’s wrong with him. He uggests that he stop worrying about Conrad. Calvin flashes back to a memory of his sons fighting over a sweater, then to a disjointed memory of him pounding on a door, a stretcher, and an ambulance. These flashbacks are not included in the novel, but heighten the drama and emotional development in the film.
At swim practice Coach Salan tells Conrad that he has a bad attitude and is messing up his life. The action moves to Conrad at his school locker, where Lazenby says Salan told the swim team that Conrad quit and presses Conrad for a reason. Conrad avoids him. At a therapy session, Conrad tells Berger that he cannot relate to his mother. He also admits that he wants to keep control and stop feeling ‘‘lousy.’’
The novel explores Conrad’s anxiety about the swim team and his conflict with his friends on a deeper level, as the reader is actively engaged with Conrad’s point of view. For example, as Conrad watches swimming practice and fears getting back into the pool, he repeats the mantra, ‘‘Doesn’t matter doesn’t matter I didn’t really want to swim.’’ Though the viewer sees that reaction in the film, the novel allows a glimpse directly inside Conrad’s mind.
The novel also provides more dimension to Calvin’s feelings. When Calvin runs into Lazenby’s mother Carole and asks her to have lunch with him, the reader understands how Buck’s death has made Calvin feel as if nothing is the same as it was before the tragedy: ‘‘because she looks so real and so alive, he is absurdly glad to see her; asks her to go to lunch with him on the spot.’’ Calvin longs to connect physically and emotionally with someone.
Family and Budding Romance
The tension between Beth and Conrad comes to a head in a scene involving Conrad, Calvin, Beth, and Beth’s parents. Conrad’s grandmother is taking photos of Conrad, Calvin, and Beth. When Calvin asks to snap a picture of Conrad and Beth, she tries to avoid having her picture taken with her son by saying she will take the pictures. Conrad lashes out and tells Calvin to ‘‘give her the goddamn camera.’’ Beth later speaks to her mother about Conrad, wondering out loud if they should send him to boarding school.
After choir practice, Conrad catches up to Jeannine in the hall, where she compliments his singing. They walk together, talking about music. After seeing her to the bus, Conrad walks home elated. When he gets home, he calls Karen, but talks to her mother who says Karen is not home. Conrad looks through the phone book for Jeannine’s number, but has difficulty mustering the nerve to make the call. When he finally does, the conversation is a bit shaky, but she accepts when he asks her out on a date.
While the film portrays the family tension in more straightforward and simple manner, the novel layers internal and external conflicts and builds the plot along with the character development. For example, the novel shows Conrad beginning to heal as he fills his time with studies, birdwatching at the park, and Christmas shopping for his family. He makes a ‘‘Life List’’ and sets goals. In a session with Berger, Conrad confesses that he hasn’t told his father about quitting swimming because he doesn’t want him to worry. He continues to talk about his lack of connection with his mother. Berger encourages Conrad to allow himself to feel bad and to stop thinking so much. Conrad runs into Jeannine after school and invites her to have a drink with him. Their date boosts his self-esteem. On the way home, a display window prompts him to remember a skiing trip he took with Buck.
Christmas and Forgiveness, Flashback and Family Therapy
Calvin and Conrad bring home a Christmas tree but Beth arrives home angry after hearing from a friend that Conrad quit the swim team. Calvin asks why Conrad did not tell them. Conrad says that ‘‘the only reason she cares is because someone else knew about it first.’’ After Beth leaves the room, Conrad confesses his resentment that his mother did not visit him in the hospital, telling his father that he is certain she would have visited Buck in the hospital. Conrad flees to his bedroom.
Calvin asks Beth to speak to Conrad with him, but she refuses. Calvin talks to Conrad alone. Conrad doesn’t want his father to be angry. He also confesses to Calvin that he believes Beth hates him and will never change. Conrad later tells Berger about the argument, but says he doesn’t really blame his mother because he caused the problems in her life. He describes the bloody mess in her tidy bathroom after he attempted suicide. Berger wants him to recognize his mother’s limitations and to let himself off the hook. Conrad realizes he needs to forgive himself.
Calvin goes jogging with a friend, but when they part, Calvin continues to run, thinking back to the family argument while decorating the Christmas tree. Calvin later meets with Dr. Berger and admits he feels responsible for Conrad’s suicide attempt. He also feels as though his family is drifting away from him. He confesses that he thinks Beth cannot be close to Conrad because the two are too much alike—neither of them cried at Buck’s funeral.
Calvin returns home. Beth finds him sitting outside in the car and asks what is wrong. Calvin wants to discuss Buck’s funeral. Beth had made a fuss about the shirt he had chosen, and he had always wondered why the shirt mattered. Beth hugs him but says nothing. This scene is not included in the novel, but provides visual character development and shows the disconnect in the relationship between Calvin and Beth.
Later, Beth meets Calvin for lunch. He suggests they see Berger together as a family. Beth refuses, insisting problems need to be solved in private. She wants Calvin to go away with her and tells him she has already talked to her parents about staying with Conrad.
Conrad and Jeannine go on a date. They go bowling, then out to eat. Jeannine asks Conrad about his suicide attempt. He tells her that she is the first person who has asked him. She asks why he did it, and he says he ‘‘fell into a hole that got bigger and bigger.’’ Conrad’s friends from the swim team come into the restaurant acting raucous, making Jeannine laugh. Conrad becomes upset by her reaction. She apologizes, but he shuts down.
The novel delves further into Conrad’s sexuality than the film does. While Conrad visits the library, a pretty young woman admires him openly. Conrad is surprised and tells Berger about the encounter at their next therapy session. He also opens up to Berger about his sexual feelings for girls and about his masturbation habit. Berger says his behavior is normal, and suggests he ask a girl out on a date. Later in the novel, Conrad makes love with Jeannine.
The novel provides more opportunities to illustrate Conrad’s growing relationship with his father. For instance, on his eighteenth birthday, Conrad clears out the garage with Calvin and the two bond.
Beth and Calvin Go Away; Conrad has an Epiphany
Calvin and Beth take a trip to Houston alone. In the meantime, Conrad goes to a swim meet and watches from the bleachers as his friends lose the meet. After the meet, Stillman asks Conrad if he has had sex with Jeannine. This leads to a fistfight. Everyone but Lazenby walks away, calling Conrad crazy. Lazenby asks Conrad if he wants to talk and offers his help, but Conrad says it hurts too much to be around him.
Conrad returns to his grandparents’ house and phones Karen. A man tells him that she has killed herself. Horrified and upset, he flashes back to his brother’s boating accident and tears out of the house. He runs to a pay phone and calls Berger, who immediately meets him at the office. In an emotional scene, Conrad tells Berger that he blames himself for the accident, but also blames Buck for not holding on to the boat or turning back at the first sign of bad weather. Berger asks him, ‘‘How long are you going to punish yourself?’’ and demands to know, ‘‘What was the one wrong thing you did?’’ Conrad admits that he blames himself for living.
Conrad loiters outside Jeannine’s house. She comes out and apologizes for her behavior at the restaurant and invites him for breakfast. Meanwhile, Calvin and Beth are golfing in Houston. Calvin mentions Conrad and thereby upsets Beth. She accuses Calvin of being controlled by Conrad. On the return trip, Calvin thinks about the early, simple days of his relationship with Beth.
Calvin and Beth arrive home. Conrad hugs his mother and tries to reach out, but she resists. That night Beth wakes and finds Calvin gone. She goes downstairs and finds him crying at the dining table. He accuses her of being weak and cold, with the inability to love anyone. He also confesses that he does not know if he loves her anymore. She goes upstairs and packs a suitcase. She only allows herself one sob, but true to her character, prevents herself from crumbling.
In the novel, Guest offers more character development than does the film in this section. Beth and Calvin discuss the trip to Houston. Calvin remembers the early years of his marriage and other trips they took. In the novel, by getting inside Conrad’s head, the reader is able to experience the gradual change in Conrad and sees firsthand when he finally considers how the loss of Buck affected his friends and family.
Also in the novel, Guest gives Jeannine Pratt a more developed narrative. Conrad plans for a date with Jeannine, but she has to stay at home and take care of her brother. Jeannine reveals to Conrad that her parents have a messy relationship but she wants them to reconcile. When she becomes upset, Conrad comforts her. Conrad gains more confidence through his relationship with Jeannine.
The scene in which Conrad discovers Karen has committed suicide plays out differently in film and novel. In the novel, when Conrad reads the newspaper, he finds an article reporting the suicide of his friend Karen. Reeling from the news, he retreats to his bed where he drifts in and out of dreams and memories. He remembers his relationship with Karen and his own treatment in the hospital. He thinks of the day he tried to commit suicide. He wakes in the middle of the night and goes for a walk, but a policeman encourages him to go home. He tries to sleep, but has nightmares about the boating accident. Conrad believes Buck would have survived if he had held on to the boat.
Conrad awakens and calls Dr. Berger in the middle of the night. They meet at the office, where Berger encourages Conrad to release his pent-up emotions. Conrad admits to Berger that he needs to be let off the hook for not saving Buck. Berger suggests that Conrad might be subconsciously striving to be Buck and encourages Conrad to be himself. Berger mentions the death of Karen, which prompts Conrad to weep. Berger reassures Conrad that feeling horrible about certain things can be a good thing. He advises Conrad to stop punishing himself for things that were out of his control. Conrad returns to his house in Lake Forest where he flashes back to a horrible childhood incident when he and Buck were playing a game of torture, and to the time he spent with Karen.
Ending
Conrad watches his mother drive away in a taxi. He finds Calvin in the backyard and asks what happened. Calvin says Beth is going to Houston for a while and tells Conrad not to blame himself. He admits he never worried about Conrad, because he always appeared in control, but should have worried more. Conrad tells his dad he loves him, a sentiment Calvin reciprocates. The camera pulls back to show the house, with the two on the steps in an embrace.
The ending of the novel is a bit less dramatic, visually speaking, than the ending of the film. Beth leaves Calvin and does not say good-bye to Conrad. Calvin tells Conrad his mother has gone and plans for the two of them to live in a rented house in Evanston, where Conrad will finish high school. Conrad begins to criticize his mother for her departure, but Calvin turns the tables on his son and suggests Conrad needs to learn how to take criticism himself. Conrad agrees and advises his dad to criticize him more often. Conrad tells his father he loves him. The novel also includes an epilogue, which takes place in the new house where Conrad and Calvin live. Conrad finishes his therapy with Dr. Berger but insists they will remain friends. He also goes to Lazenby’s house to make amends. Conrad is slowly healing.
Source Credits:
Sara Constantakis, Novels for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context & Criticism on Commonly Studied Novels, Judith Guest, Volume 33, Gale-Cengage Learning, 2010