Ordinary People, Contextualized using Social Interactionism

The three core principles, meaning, language, and thought, of George Herbert Mead’s theory of symbolic interactionism, will be used explain the creation of Conrad’s “self” and his socialization into the larger community within Ordinary People. Conrad has locked himself into a horrible self-fulfilling prophecy, a prophecy in which he is an unlovable, worthless member of his community. This prophecy was developed from his concept of the “me” part of his “self”, that of …

…that he tried to end his own life. Dr. Berger helped Conrad get in touch with his “I” and gain new perspective that allowed him to symbolically interact with others in a new light, producing a “me” truer to that of the community’s vision of him. By releasing his “I” and combining it with his new “me” Conrad was able to produce a “self” that he was happy enough to continue on living with.