In Judith Guest's Ordinary People, the family of Jordan “Buck” Jarret copes with the tragic event in which took his life. A family trip turned into a boating accident, stealing the life of Beth and Calvin’s oldest son, and Conrad’s older brother. Throughout the book, this happy family gets turned upside down and faces unthinkable challenges. Even though deaths are thought to bring families closer together through grieving, this was not the case for the Jarrett family. Although the family in Judith Guest’s Ordinary People all face the death of Jordan, there are many different paths taken for coping with his death such as Conrad shutting his feelings down, Calvin blaming himself for the accident, and Beth just wanting to move on with her life.
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However, after the accident, the rest of the family grieved and struggled every day, stopping their daily routine and adjusting how they go about their day. That is not the case for Beth. Although she was saddened by the accident, she is the only person in the family who has fully accepted the tragedy, and wants to move forward with her life. This motivation causes her to try and pull the rest of the family in with her. She does this by asking Calvin and Conrad about going to London for Christmas. “I remember last year you said Yugoslavia, but Cal, don't you think London would be fun? We’ve never done that. Christmas in London-” (27). This argument triggers a larger conflict in her marriage with Calvin. He realizes after this that she isn’t hurting as bad as they are, even if the accident was a whole year ago. He also sees that Beth isn’t fully aware of the hurt going on with Conrad. She sees him trying to kill himself as a call for attention, rather than a call for help. Conrad gets so sick of her unsupportiveness and her expectations of him and his father, that he snaps on her and they argue in front of Calvin. Calvin is able to break up the argument and Conrad stomps off. His father follows him to his room to talk to him and Beth is not surprised or a fan of this action of his. “Go ahead, that's the pattern isn't it? Let him walk all over us, then go up there and apologize to him”
However, after the accident, the rest of the family grieved and struggled every day, stopping their daily routine and adjusting how they go about their day. That is not the case for Beth. Although she was saddened by the accident, she is the only person in the family who has fully accepted the tragedy, and wants to move forward with her life. This motivation causes her to try and pull the rest of the family in with her. She does this by asking Calvin and Conrad about going to London for Christmas. “I remember last year you said Yugoslavia, but Cal, don't you think London would be fun? We’ve never done that. Christmas in London-” (27). This argument triggers a larger conflict in her marriage with Calvin. He realizes after this that she isn’t hurting as bad as they are, even if the accident was a whole year ago. He also sees that Beth isn’t fully aware of the hurt going on with Conrad. She sees him trying to kill himself as a call for attention, rather than a call for help. Conrad gets so sick of her unsupportiveness and her expectations of him and his father, that he snaps on her and they argue in front of Calvin. Calvin is able to break up the argument and Conrad stomps off. His father follows him to his room to talk to him and Beth is not surprised or a fan of this action of his. “Go ahead, that's the pattern isn't it? Let him walk all over us, then go up there and apologize to him”