ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes representations of medical practitioners in fiction, encompassing classic and contemporary literature. The book's success started Judith Guest, a teacher and the mother of three sons, on her career as a novelist. Begun as a short story, Ordinary People grew into a novel after Judith became intrigued by the prevalence of teenage depression. In the 1970s, when the action of the novel takes place, depression and suicide among teenagers was only beginning to emerge as a serious public health problem. Dr. Howard Berger is the follow-up doctor, probably 30 to 40 years old, practicing in a somewhat dilapidated section of Chicago. Conrad Jarrett, the 17-year-old hero of the story, is not initially charmed by Dr. Berger, as he has acquired a deep suspicion of this breed of doctors and their put-on eccentricities that he witnessed in the hospital. One of Berger's great strengths is his availability in a pinch.
