Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

In the movie “Ordinary People”, one of the main characters, Conrad, has many problems communicating with people and having relationships with them. One of the main reasons for Conrad’s difficulties is his misplaced guilt over his brother’s death in a boating accident. His guilt became so overwhelming that he tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists. After his suicide attempt, he was placed in a hospital for four months and throughout the movie we see him in therapy with his psychiatrist, Dr. Berger. In one of their sessions, Conrad tells Dr. Berger that he liked the hospital because “nobody hid anything”. I think that Conrad felt that people he dealt with in his everyday life, particularly his family, hid things from him, especially their feelings. This probably caused him to be apprehensive and distrusting of people, which hindered his ability to forge strong, healthy relationships. I think this also caused him to have problems communicating with people effectively. He probably felt that people were always holding back and not divulging their true emotions, which in turn most likely made him question whether or not to share his own emotions. Conrad has severe difficulties communicating with his mother