Ordinary People

Recall that our theme is Out of Chaos, What Patterns Emerge?

The novel starts out chaotically.  Note how difficult it is to sort out who's who and what's going on.

Also note how it is written in the present tense, the immediate.  This perhaps gets us closer to the "stream of consciousness" thinking patterns of the central characters (as well as us).

We meet the family: Conrad the son, Cal the father, and Beth the mother.

Note Cal's comment: "Decency is out, chaos is in--" (7),  supposedly about how Conrad dresses.  However, this is also a bit of foreshadowing regarding Beth's struggle to understand the tragedy they have recently experienced and have yet to deal with.

"It's like the hole in your mouth where a tooth was and you cannot keep your tongue from playing with it" (24).

Beth and Cal's early relationship, p. 26.

Note the contrast between a "tidy life" where everything is in its place and all things have order with Berger's office (Chapter 5).

Chapter Six provides insight into Cal.  Note how he completes the sentence "I'm the kind of man who . . ." (51).

Try this yourself and see how you do:  Complete the following: 

I am the kind of (man/woman) who ______________.

Note Berger's response to Conrad's claim that he is "behind already" (78).  How many of us believe there is a "Great Schedule in the Sky" or a "Golden Gradebook" (78)?

Pages 89-90 provide important insight into Beth.  Note Cal's reminiscence about the early parenting years of their marriage.