Chapters 1-2, Ordinary People Summary

Chapter 1. In the beginning of Chapter 1, Conrad Jarrett is having an internal conversation with himself about facing the day. The bare walls of his room make him anxious. He thinks about school as he tries to talk himself into getting out of bed, and he thinks about the hospital where he spent the last 8 months. The other people there made him feel cramped, but he appreciated the sameness and the structure the hospital offered. He has to really concentrate in order to put on a calm face and get out of bed.

Chapter 2. Calvin and Beth Jarrett are Conrad's parents. Cal was raised in an orphanage. His mother put him in the home when he was four. He never knew anything about his father, and he had his mother's maiden name.

Cal became a tax attorney and...