Chapters 14, 15, 16, & 17

Chapter 14, 15, 16 & 17
Chapter 14 is all about Conrad dealing with his emotions toward his mother, and the feeling of remorse he has after their fight. It is set in Berger’s office. Berger is trying to get Conrad to explain why he and his mother don’t get along. Berger tries to convince Con that he has to forgive himself before others will forgive him. Chapter 15 is Christmas day. Conrad’s grandma Ellen and grandpa Howard, they are Beth’s mother and father. They start opening gifts and Conrad gives his to his mom. Beth and Con are calm now, careful with each other. Conrad’s last present was a card under the tree with a key ring with two keys on it. Conrad went out to the driveway to find a green Lemans with a white vinyl top parked with a big red bow on it. Later that night after Calvin had drove Ellen and Howard home and Con was in bed Beth approached Calvin and they started fighting again. Beth was mad because Calvin had moped around all day after the car surprise didn’t go as well as he wanted it too. Calvin was mad because Beth was mad at him. Chapter 16 starts with Conrad making a list. He decided that his life is unorganized and he needs to organize it. The list is numbered one through seven. It reads; 1 finals, 2. Exercise, 3.friends, 4. Job, 5. Guitar, 6. Books, 7. Girls. The chapter then jumps to Conrad being in the library, he applied for a job there and caught a lady staring at him. In the parking lot she apologized but told him it was because he was so handsome. The chapter then jumps again, to Berger’s office where Berger’s questioning Con, asking him what he did with the lady after she told him that. Then Berger goes on to give Con relationship advice. Chapter 17 is Conrad’s birthday, Calvin and Conrad are out in the garage cleaning and Conrad’s giving Calvin a hard time about him being eighteen and what a wonderful birthday party they’re having. Calvin then asks Conrad if he thinks that Calvin should go see Berger. Conrad tells him that he thinks Calvin’s perfectly fine. Calvin scheduled an appointment with Berger and went there to talk to him. Calvin learned that Conrad thinks of himself as a lousy son and Calvin insisted to Berger he was not. Once Calvin calmed down they decided just to talk about Calvin.


Chapter 14, 15, 16 and 17
This section brings up one of our main themes again. It’s all about forgiveness. Conrad was upset in Berger’s office the next day after the fight. He was feeling guilty for the fight and felt remorse for having it. Berger was trying to Convince Conrad that for others to forgive him for something like that, he must forgive himself first. Chapter 15 is based solely on Christmas day. No one in the family is like family. They are all awkward around each other. This is there first family Christmas in several years. When they give out gifts they’re thankful and giving, yet different. They are like strangers toward each other. Conrad received a car for Christmas and his birthday. Conrad liked it, but felt as though this meant he had to be happy. That if they gave him a car, he had to all of a sudden be a happy person and get over everything. Later that evening Beth approached Calvin about his mood that day. She wasn’t happy with the way he acted all day. She said he moped around and was upset because Conrad wasn’t as happy about the surprise as Calvin had planned. Calvin was mad because Beth was mad at him. This just adds to the risky marriage. Calvin and Beth fight for no reason, constantly. Calvin isn’t what Beth wants him to be. Conrad made a list in this chapter, of things that he wanted to accomplish. It read; 1.finals, 2. Exercise, 3. Friends, 4. Job, 5. Guitar, 6. Books, 7. Girls. This is another great sign of his recovery as he is setting goals for himself. He’s starting to get back into the grove of things. Conrad started the list by going to the library to apply for a job. While he was in there, there was a woman that kept giving him funny looks and staring at him. Later in the parking lot she told him she was sorry about before and that the reason she was staring was because he was very handsome. This was a major confidence booster to Conrad. Chapter 17 is Conrad’s eighteenth birthday. Conrad was giving Cal a hard time about his birthday and how all he did was clean and chores. Conrad was just kidding around, which gave Calvin a bit of peace of mind knowing that he was lightening up and had a sense of humour. Calvin then asked Conrad if it would be okay for him to make an appointment with Berger and see Berger for himself. Calvin said sure, do what you want. When Calvin met with Berger he was very overwhelmed and didn’t know what he was doing there. He basically asked Berger to tell him what was wrong with him. This is another bad sign for Calvin. He thinks something is wrong with him. Beth keeps putting Calvin down, which is emotional abuse. This is causing Calvin many other problems. Calvin eventually calmed down and Berger and he just talked about Calvin.