The Family's Unhealthy Communication In The Movie, Ordinary People

In the movie ordinary people a family of three (previously four) experience a great deal of grief while dealing with the death of a family member Buck. Buck is Conrad's older brother and Beth's and Calvin's oldest son and through the movie one can see how bucks death affects everyone in their own little way. Through the movie one experiences the family's unhealthy communication. Some scenes depict silence or violence and in this essay both forms of inappropriate conversation will be addressed with its proper form of management.

When Conrad was with his brother while the accident was happening Buck dies, and Conrad survives. He is put in the hospital for trying to kill himself to escape his extreme survivors guilt. After returning home and to school he's recommended a psychiatrist named Doctor Burger. The first signs one sees of unhealthy behavior from Conrad is when his father ask if he's having trouble sleeping and Conrad tells him no. In this case Conrad is using silence and more specifically he's using withdrawal. An example of violence would be when Conrad yells at his father to give his mother ,Beth, the camera. This is highly unhealthy because he's displacing his anger onto others. The proper management for this would be for Conrad to go in his room or

One can observe Calvin's timid and push over nature. Calvin tends to use silence over violence but there are some cases in which he does use violence. Here's an example one can witness, when Calvin yelled at Beth after she got on to Conrad for quitting the swim team and not telling them. Calvin got mad and yelled at Beth saying "You don't yell at him like that". In this scene it clearly shows Calvin's inner anger towards Beth's treatment of Conrad. Calvin also shows signs of silence such as the scene when Calvin talks to Beth about Conrad while they're away in Huston. Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: He just wants to know that you don't hate