On Golden Pond

The movie "The Golden Pond” has characters that each represent psychological, physical, and cognitive stages of the life cycle, also referred as Erikson’s Theories. Through these concepts each character is under a different developmental category, with each relationship urging for acceptance.

Erikson’s Theory is divided into periods of development in which an individual goes through a crisis. Depending on the outcome of said crisis, one would gain a positive or negative trait. In the theory, there is a set of crisis’ that nurture the most development. These are mainly the middle years, from about 3-40 years old. Dallas Winston can be more easily analyzed through these years considering that the most information about his past self is revealed in that time period. During the first period within this set, from 3-5 years

Norman, a strong guy, could not save him not for lack of strength, but instead because of complete chaos around him, and “the worst part […] the smell” (O’Brien, 139). After the firefight was over, guilt set into Norman that would never leave. He blamed himself for Kiowa’s death, and it riddled him with self-doubt. After the war, he is completely unable to tell anyone about the incident, and the medal he should’ve won, “he wished he could have explained some of this. How he had been braver than he ever thought possible, but how he had not been so brave as he wanted to be” (O’Brien, 126). His feeling of inadequacy is based on this singular incident, and is something unable to be represented in the NBER study. After the war, Norman lived in the same town he has always lived in, yet he felt like a stranger: “the town could not, and would not listen. […] It had no memory, therefore no guilt” (O’Brien, 137). Norman feels alienated from society, wracked with guilt for a situation beyond his control, he finds his only solace is in the taking of his life. Tim O’Brien uses the suicide of Norman Bawker to represent the extremes of post-war trauma of veterans as a whole. Norman is a stand-in for every soldier who comes home from the war feeling as if he could have done more. Norman’s home town, a sleepy town in middle America with, “stone patios with barbecue spits and grills, and wooden shingles” (O’Brien, 131) represents America as a whole and its uncertainty of how to

Erik Erikson has developed the psychosocial theory that proposes eight stages across the life span of human development. Each and every one of the stages has a “crisis”, a significant psychosocial topic that is important in that moment. The theories are deliberately having an impact on by social and cultural influence a process of development of the ego and self. “According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crisis that are distinctly social in nature. These involves establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future. (McLeod 2008, p. 1) In this paper I will be talking about each of the main characters in the movie, “On Golden Pond” and what they all go through to a crisis of psychosocial development using Erikson’s theory.

The life stages for an individual changes as a person grows older and has various experiences in life. There is a change in the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth as an individual age. “The process of development is linked to internal conflicts, changing self-awareness, and a dynamic social environment” (Newman & Newman, 2012). Understanding the current stage, assist the counselor in therapeutically preparing for treatment. This paper will view the members of the Gilbert family including Gilbert, Arnie, and Bonnie Grape through various life stages from school age

When on a placement in a care home, the elderly were treated without respect, they were shouted at by the staff and poor manual handling was used when moving the elderly residents. This was just one care home out of hundreds, not all care homes are like this and the clients will be treated with respect and dignity.

This paper is an assessment of Mr. Holland, as represented in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus (19) using Erik Erikson’s Theory of development. The underlying theme that stretches throughout Erikson’s theory is that of balance (Hergenhahn & Olson, 2003). Erikson (1963) divided the life cycle of an individual into developmental stages (Meyer et al., 1997). Each stage of development is characterized by what Erikson called a crisis; he used the word crisis as it results in an important turning point in one’s life cycle. The crisis has the possibility of a positive or a negative

The movie On Golden Pond represents three stages of development: adolescence, middle-adulthood, and late-adulthood. In the movie, Billy, Chelsea and Norman, three of the main characters symbolize the three stages of development by specific behaviors related to biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial developments. It was necessary for the three characters to break down during hard situations in their lives to start appreciating the different seasons of their lives, the transition from adolescence to adulthood to aging and the people around them. In this paper I will discuss how these characters develop as individuals through the lenses of biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development, and I will also end my discussion by explaining how

The elders in our society are both respected and experienced, but in the early 20th century it was not always like this. Now during our lifetime retirees get compensation and benefits to reward them for their years in the workforce, not to mention the free medical insurance they receive by the government. In the Great Depression elders had to work their life away, in other words they had to work their whole life just to get by and didn’t earn any financial aid. For example, in Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, Candy who is a swamper on a ranch is old and is physically disabled due to a machine malfunction that took away his hand. Candy gets pushed around and is treated poorly due to his disability and age. Therefore,

The journey through late adulthood can be experienced in different ways. One particular movie entitled “The Bucket List” exhibits an astounding portrayal of late adulthood. In fact, there are many accounts that the movie entails about late-adulthood. This includes the illustration of Erickson’s late adulthood stage – “Ego Integrity vs. Despair,” wisdom, marriage, friendship, parent-child relationship, and death and dying in late adulthood.

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

To begin with the characters that are first introduced are Norman and Ethel. Who are both getting towards the end of their lives because they are kind of old and are done working. Which is the final stage of in Erickson's model called Integrity vs. Despair. Which is something that Norman has a hard time dealing with throughout most of the movie. He seems to feel like he can still work and wants to find a Job. Even though he was previously a professor he does not feel completely satisfied with his life. He also seems to fear the idea of death as he does not want to be seen as old and wants to act like he is still young hence the reason why he wants to get a job. Norman can also be seen as also being in the Generativity vs Stagnation stage

I have always admired the senior citizens who are wondering how they have passed such long journeys of their lives. They not only have accomplished achievements, but also have done memorable works that deserve admiration, respect, and priority in today’s society. These old people may look incompetent and unexciting in somebody’s eyes and thoughts, but not everyone realizes that they are the people with greatest knowledge and experiences beyond their masters of life. From my own experience, whenever I see an old mister or mistress looking for help or in need of help, I can never ignore him or

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous

As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.