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Adapting To Life The American Heritage Dictionary defines life as being: human existence, relationships, or activity in general: real life; everyday life. Over the duration of ones existence, a person may be faced with many difficult situations. These difficulties may include, but are not limited to, such things as defunct relationships with others, poor interpersonal communication, bereavement, and depression. In order to fully overcome such adversities in life, one must be able to make adjustments, and implement them in their everyday lives. The novel Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, demonstrates the ability, as well as inability, of an individual to adapt in order to overcome the exacting circumstances they face, living what is, in essence, nothing more than an ordinary life. These extenuating circumstances can be seen specifically in the novel by means of the poor relationship between Cal and Beth, the uncompromising stubbornness of Beth in regards to her son, and also the recovery of Conrad after his attempted suicide, all of which are eventually dealt with in their own particular ways. The most exemplary instance of a dysfunctional relationship in Ordinary People is that of Beth and Calvin Jarrett. It is clear f