Open Letter to Parents

I think that the most important thing for any parent is communication in any form.  It is evident that at the end of the novel when we discover that Beth still held on to Conrad’s possessions, it showed that she did in fact love her son.  The problem, however, is that she did not know or could not bring herself to show him that affection.  If parents love their children, but do not show them their feelings, it can make the kids feel unappreciated and uncared for.  They could feel like they don’t even matter, because if their parents don’t love them, they may feel that no one will.  In Conrad’s case, he was dealing with a lot of psychological issues after the death of his brother and his mother did not seem to sympathize with him very much. She thought that he was acting up to target her, which clearly wasn’t the case.  Calvin faults himself as well, because before the suicide attempt he didn’t think he was involved enough in his son’s life to realize that his brother’s death had a huge effect on Conrad.  In good times and especially in hard times, parents need to sit down and talk with their children so they can better deal with their issues.