Conrad is the troubled protagonist of Ordinary People. He is an ordinary boy living with his ordinary family, At least until his brother, Jordan, is unexpectedly killed in a boating accident. This tragic event begins the breakdown of the Jarrett’s perfect lives. Conrad initially refuses to answer his call to cope with Jordan’s death until his grief overwhelms him and he attempts suicide. Luckily, after surviving cutting his wrists and a brief stay in a mental hospital, Conrad gets another chance to deal with the loss of Jordan and l

In chapter nine, Conrad has a nightmare where he sees a tunnel. He enters the tunnel, but as he crawls in further, the walls shrink. This is a reference to him, as he pushes his way back into mainstream society, but continues to feel trapped and his list of options getting smaller. With nowhere else to turn to, he starts to tell his frustrations to Berger who helps him start dealing with his problems and start feeling emotions again. Conrad finally believes that he is not an outsider, when he goes to the library one day. He catches an older women staring at him and then tells him he is cute. Conrad realizes “The freak, the one-man side show answer no longer fits” (Guest 135). This huge event for Conrad shows him the irony that he is the only one that perceives him as different and others see him as normal. After this Conrad finally has the nerve to ask out Jeannine, who helps Conrad when he sees the problems she has with her parent’s divorce and realizes that he is not the only one with problems. He now had to comfort her instead of everyone worrying over him.

A few days after Conrad’s night with Jeannine, Conrad is having breakfast with Cal, when he finds out about his mother’s trip. Cal is faced with an ultimatum to either help Conrad or stay with Beth (SparkNotes: Analysis 2). Beth’s reluctance to confront her issues with Jordan’s death and Cal’s constant acknowledgment of it results in their separation (SparkNotes: Characters 1). Conrad is at first confused, but takes the news well. The book “rewards openness and persistence, but in doing so seems rather harsh on the mother and her problems (Woodcock 2). The house is now described as a peaceful place as if the shadow that covered it has finally been lifted.

In the end, Conrad has moved and is attending a new school. He appears to be over Jordan’s death finally and attempts to make amends with Lazenby. Conrad pushed Lazenby away before because he reminded him of his brother, but now he has dealt with it and is ready to handle the memories of Jordan that Lazenby brings back. At this point, Conrad has gone through his transformation, he is now stronger from confronting his brother’s death, but back to the once happy kid he used to be.

Conrad returns from the hospital a different person, his room, which used to be full of posters and his bumper sticker collection on the wall is now just painted pale blue and making the room seem dark and depressing (Bookrags 1). Cal notices these changes and is worried about Conrad making it in school. Cal tries to talk to Conrad and understand how he is doing but Conrad does not tell him anything. Throughout the book Conrad does not receive any support from Beth. Beth acts as if Conrad is an intruder in her house. Handling this lack of support and any emotional contact with his mother finall

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