Beth And Conard Relationship Case Study

One of the Doctors names was Dr. Strauss ,and Dr. Nemur. Dr. Strauss was nice to Charlie and he wanted to use him for the operation. Dr. Nemur didn’t want to use him. Somehow Dr. Strauss talked Dr. Nemur into using Charlie. So Dr. Strauss was thought of a friend by Charlie. Because Strauss was nice and friendly to Charlie. But towards the end after Charlie had the operation Strauss was becoming mean to Charlie because Charlie was way smarter than him. Charlie started to notice this and no longer liked him. Charlie was kinda mad at

It is due to Charlie’s frequent arguments with his Mother and advice from his Father that he learns to be diplomatic and control his emotions. For example, when Charlie’s mother is angry at him for sneaking out of the house at night Charlie could’ve just kept quiet and taken his punishment, but he kept arguing back out of anger, further winding up his mother until she forced him to dig up a hole, fill it back up again, and then go to bed without dinner. After this his father gives him the valuable advice to sometimes let the other person win the argument and make it better for both parties, which Charlie takes to heart. Learning to control your emotions and be diplomatic even when you disagree is a key part of growing up and maturing.

Behind the communication barrier with Beth, there are hidden problems. Conrad is still dealing with many side effects of Buck’s death, such as constant guilt, anger, and

The stages of grief are demonstrated in Conrad’s relationships with his family and friends. Conrad has experienced depression and a suicide attempt in response to his brother’s death. At the beginning of the book, Conrad is going through the first stage of grief, which is shock and denial. Conrad’s father, Cal, worries about Conrad’s mental health and gives him the name of a therapist. However, Conrad does not call him. Cal believes that Conrad, “ ought to stick with the plan --’” (13) However, Conrad “can’t [because he] is swimming every night…[He doesn’t] need to see anybody. [He] feels fine’ (13). Conrad is uncomfortable talking about the death, and seeing a therapist would require him to talk. Conrad is afraid to feel his emotions. He thinks if he just avoids thinking about his brother’s death, he will be okay. The second

Throughout the duration of this conversation it is evident by her short responses that Beth is not genuinely listening to what Conrad is saying and her body language shows her clear disinterest and anxiousness to exit the conversation. The lack of adequate communication between these two characters results in a shattered and distant relationship that leaves both Beth and Conrad in separate worlds of unspoken guilt and resentment toward one another that only grows stronger as time progresses. It is unclear if reason for Beth's resentment towards Conrad has stemmed from Buck's death or from the recent suicide attempt (or both), but her behavior towards her son shows her obvious distaste for him.

Beth Jarrett shows major distance towards Conrad in many situations: she didn’t visit him at the hospital, she refused to take a picture with just the two of them, anytime they have a conversation it’s always small talk and she “withdraws” as soon as Buck is mentioned. She provides examples of avoidance and withdrawal. If Beth could’ve met the need of love and belonging with Conrad, the distance and tension would not be there. She shows violent behavior when yelling at Conrad about the swim team, which she could’ve brought up calmly and not have been making accusations towards Conrad, which threatens safety and respect in the

In fact, his mother denies her loss, hoping to maintain her composure and restore her family to what it once was. She appears to have loved her elder son more and because of the suicide attempt, has now grown cold toward Conrad. She is determined to maintain the appearance of perfection and normalcy. When Conrad was in the hospital, Beth never went to see him for the four

This ending adds more obscurity to the work as a whole and goes right along with how Conrad wrote the novel in its entirety. This is how he shaped his characters as well. Vague descriptions and details make the readers think and try to process things on their own instead of the narrator telling them. That is why this ending and novel as a whole is one of the hardest to understand and

Berger, "She loved my brother, too.  It's just me"(120).  He concluded that Beth could not love him because there was something wrong with him.  After the big fight that Conrad had with his parents, he revealed to his father his opinion of Beth's feelings for him. Conrad tells him, "All right, then.  She hates me"(114).  Because Conrad felt that there was something wrong with him, he did not know how to react to situations nor did he know when to express his feelings.  For his Christmas present, Conrad's parents and grandparents bought him a car.  His response to this extravagant present was, "Yeah, okay… Thank you both, it's beautiful really.  It's terrific"(126).  He was not overly excited, as one should be, on receiving such an extraordinary gift.  He was not quite sure how to act, so he repressed all of his feelings.  In an early conversation with Berger, Conrad said, "What I'm doing here is that I had to come"(41).  This proves that Conrad was in denial of his psychological state and foreshadows Conrad's severe state of depression.  Conrad repressed all of his feelings and emotions.  He told Berger, "I don't feel anything"(98). Later on in the conversation, Berger told Conrad that the "Only way you're ever gonna get to know him [the guy in the closet] is to let him out now and then."(100)  This alludes to the fact that Conrad repressed his feelings and was extremely depressed.  All of these factors led to

The emotional agony that Conrad experienced following the death of his brother almost led to his end. The conflict inside of Conrad is only the beginning of his suffering. The emotions that engulf one's mind can swallow them up and eat them from the inside out. They demand to be felt, but the management of the emotional conflict has been just as important. For example, when the Jannett family is together to take family photos, including the grandparents, the disconnect between Conrad and his mother are clearly visible to the naked eye. After being asked to take a picture with her son, Beth hesitates, violently insisting a different photo to be taken in order to avoid accepting and showing the increasing disconnect between her and her son. Siting and watching, Conrad struggles internally to decode the intentions of the scene depicted in front of him before he burst into an outrage. Initially, Conrad practiced silence in the form of withdrawal. Thus, he situated himself in the isolated window chair. The actions of his mother spoke to him in the sense that she hated him, wishing to have nothing to do with him. The silence remained silent until he burst with rage, projecting the instructions of his father for the camera to be given to his emotionally silent mother. Conrad rested on the assumptions he formed based not only on his mother’s current action, but passed actions as well, to reveal what he

Regarding psychological functioning, Conrad is under the vicious cycle of depression. His brother’s death led him to adapt a negative explanatory style. This in turn resulted in his depressed mood and cognitive and behavioral changes. He also believes that he has disobeyed his parents and does not deserve their forgiveness or affection (1:09:38). Conrad lives with a sense of guilt, not only for attempting suicide, but for things he had no control over (ex. Karen’s death). From a socio-cultural approach, Conrad depression worsens due to his unstable relationship with his mother, along with other relationships in his life. Throughout the movie, we clearly see that Conrad’s mother does not understand the severity of Conrad’s mental state. She frequently believes that Conrad is fine and wants their lives to ‘get back to normal’ (0:24:37). She believes Conrad’s mental health is a phase that can be fixed by simply being harder on him. The movie also takes place in a time where discussing mental health is taboo. Mental illness was significantly less common and thought to be a touchy subject. Throughout the movie, we can see that people do not know how to approach the Jarretts about Conrad’s state and frequently stumble through conversations or do not understand the situation (0:22:14; 0:31:52; 0:48:05). This plays a part in Conrad’s depression because he feels he can’t talk to or relate to anyone

Since the accident, Conrad has socially withdrawn from his friends and activities he one enjoyed. He is having major problems reconnecting to his friends primarily because it is too painful to see them because they remind him of Buck. He also spent so much time in the psychiatric hospital that he missed out on almost an entire school year. He has made a connection to Karen, a fellow patient, while receiving treatment and they have formed a special bond. She had been suffering from depression and had also attempted suicide. Conrad would call her whenever he was feeling down and she was the one person he felt really understood him. Unfortunately, Karen lost her battle with depression and suddenly committed suicide. Losing this support has devastated Conrad. He now cannot adjust to his normal life and literally feels alone in his struggle.

To explain, in one instance, prior to coming in for a therapy session with his psychiatrist, Dr. Berger, Conrad was feeling panicked and says “ I can’t get through this! It’s all hanging over my head!” (Guest 223) illustrating that he is in a state of distress. If someone tried to deal with the stress on their own, the stress would have strained and exhausted their brain. However, confiding in another person proved to give them another perspective on how to think, thus calming them down; as seen when Dr. Berger's wise words: “punishment doesn’t do a damn thing for the guilt, does it? It doesn’t make it go away. And it doesn’t earn you any forgiveness” (Guest 228). By confiding in others, people can get advice that they otherwise, would not have thought of: and lowering their stress levels as a

In one paragraph it says “The lines around Charlie’s forehead and eyes and the clamp of his mouth made Leo think Charlie was wise the way old people are wise. So Leo talked to him privately every day” This might show that he doesn’t feel comfortable talking to people about his feeling. He might only talk about what he feels like with a friend because he feels close to

At an opportune time, Conrad tells his parents that he is seeing Dr Berger. Calvin is pleased to hear the news but Beth feels threatened. What if her friends find out? What an embarrassment! What would her friends think? Beth is so used to covering up and controlling her own feelings that the idea of someone prying into her family life is unbearable to her. We could speculate that perhaps her mother’s mannerisms and personality traits have rubbed off on Beth. Beth’s mother, Ellen, fakes a warm personality, which masks true critical