Ordinary People: Loss The story of Ordinary People was not so much about the loved one who had died but the loved ones whom he left behind. The story involved what you might call your “average family”, however, it shows the toll which death can take on this average family and its individual members. Author, Judith Guest, uses characterization to show that a family cannot continue on with life until each member can fully cope with the loss at hand. The father of the family is ideally the leading light, holding the family together. In this case the father, Cal, seemed to be confused. While he truly blamed himself he was very secretive about it, he doesn’t want to believe that