The Ironic Title of Judith Guests Ordinary People :: Judith Guest Ordinary People Essays

The Ironic Title of Ordinary People The significance of the title "Ordinary People" is that it is ironic because there are not ordinary people in the book. It does not correspond with the novel itself. As defined in Webster's Dictionary, ordinary means usual, common, or normal. To most people, this is what they think they are. However, in the book being unordinary is common for most of the characters. The author of this book, Judith Guest, probably titled this book "Ordinary People" to make readers ask themselves, "What is ordinary? Am I ordinary?" The title describes the book as being ordinary when the characters are really unusual. For example, most teenagers do not try to commit suicide. However, in this book, Conrad Jarett tries to kill himself. He attempts suicide because he is depressed about his older brother's death. He lost his brother in a boating accident and he blames himself for his death. He believes that he could have prevented the accident by coming in from the sea when the waters began to get rough. However, there was nothing that Conrad could have done to prevent the boat from capsizing. His attempt to commit suicide is one of the things that makes him unordinary from normal teenagers. In the real world, many teenagers attempt suicide. But, this is not ordinary. It is unusual for a teenager to attempt or commit suicide. Society does not look at this sort of behavior as ordinary. If a teenager does attempt suicide, they are usually seeking attention and looking for pity. As a result of these actions, they are seen as having some sort of mental incapacity and are treated for it. Therefore, this is not ordinary and Conrad was not either. Another character in this book who is not ordinary is Beth Jarett, Conrad's mother. Conrad feels as if she does not love him. She hardly talks to him. She also treats him as if he does not belong in the family, like a stranger. For example, in one part of the book, Conrad bends over to hug his mother and she just sits there and does not hug him back. In another part, his father wants to take a picture of Conrad and his mother