“Did I abandon them, or did they abandon me?” Conrad expresses a similar thought in remembering the sequence of events when the sailboat they were on turned over. In his book, “Against All Odds”, William Helmreich relates how one survivor articulates a feeling of abandonment. Survivors of horrible tragedies, such as the Holocaust, frequently express similar feelings of worthlessness. There is no doubt that Conrad is consumed with guilt, “the feeling one has when one acts contrary to a role he has assumed while interacting with a significant person in his life,” This guilt engenders in Conrad feelings of low self esteem. Jeannine, who sings soprano to Conrad’s tenor…” Won’t leave you alone.”Ĭonrad’s slow but steady journey towards healing seems partially the result of cathartic revelations which purge guilt feelings regarding his brother’s death and his family’s denial of that death, plus the “love of a good woman. Berger cajoles him into expressing his emotions by saying, “That’s what happens when you bury this junk, kiddo. Their initial sessions together frustrate the psychiatrist because of Conrad’s inability to express his feelings. Berger, because he feels the “air is full of flying glass” and wants to feel in control. Conrad eventually contacts a psychiatrist, Dr.
Yet, there is not one problem in this family but two – Conrad’s suicide and the death by drowning of Conrad’s older brother, Buck. They do not discuss a problem in the face of the problem. His family, after all, “are people of good taste. A return to normalcy, school and home-life, appear to be more than Conrad can handle.Ĭhalk-faced, hair-hacked Conrad seems bent on perpetuating the family myth that all is well in the world.
Though a successful tax attorney, he is jumpy around Conrad, and, according to his wife, drinks too many martinis. Jared’s father, raised in an orphanage, seems anxious to please everyone, a commonplace reaction of individuals who, as children, experienced parental indifference or inconsistency. She does all the right things attending to Jared’s physical needs, keeping a spotless home, plays golf, and bridge with other women in her social circle, but, in her own words “is an emotional cripple”.
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