Effects on Others Katherine Didier 11th Grade

One’s life is shaped as a cause of on the effect from others. For instance, if a teenage boy’s mother and friend give off a negative effect, the boy, Conrad, will begin to feel depressed inside and begin to reject himself. This means that reasonable choices and positive thoughts will not always be made. In Judith Guest’s Ordinary People, the boy cannot progress out of these discouraging thoughts because of the negative effect that is still present within the relationship he has with his mother, Beth, and his friend, Karen. The boy wishes for things to go back to being “normal” again for him and the people around him. Guest demonstrates how others affect one’s life through the way Beth and Karen’s idea of being “normal” again interfere with Conrad’s recovery process.

As a result of the need for a perfect and normal family, Beth decides not to properly communicate with her child. She does not put in the effort a mother should in order to maintain a healthy relationship with her “abnormal” son. Instead, she uses other unproductive ways of getting her message to Conrad. As she is getting ready in the morning, she asks her husband, Calvin, if he can ask Conrad “about the clothes. He’s got a closetful of decent things and he goes off...