Erikson's in My Girl by Chloe Nelson

My Girl (1991)

chloeynelson07 — 2024-10-30 21:24:54 UTC

My Girl is the story of a young girl named Vada who grows up without a mother. My Girl is set in Madison, Pennsylvania, in 1972. She experiences her best friend, Thomas J, dying due to a tragic accident. Vada is chasing a way to die and feel connected to her mother, who died during childbirth. Vada navigates life with her father, has a new girlfriend, and is learning how to have a new mother figure in her life for the first time. Living in a morgue, she is around death all her life. My Girl explains the literary themes of life and death while Vada is learning how to grow up to learn a relationship with a mother figure, Shelly, Vada's dad's new girlfriend. Vada learns to love being alive and with her family. She starts to value her life in the present.

Erikson

chloeynelson07 — 2024-10-30 21:26:10 UTC

Erikson's theory is an eight-stage theory of life and the different needs of each stage from birth to old age. The people in your life reflect each stage, and the lack of those important people makes it harder for you to learn those important skills in each stage. Erik Erickson was a German-American psychologist who studied with his wife this theory. He was a professor at Harvard and Yale and created the term identity crisis. The eight stages of the theory are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generatively vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. The people in your life, like your mother, father, other family members, peers, and children, affect the way you act in their lives. Many critics think these stages can happen multiple times throughout your life, not just the years, Erikson says.

chloeynelson07 — 2024-10-30 21:27:18 UTC

In the film, Vada doesn't grow up with a mother for a large part of her childhood. During the first stage, trust vs. mistrust, it is said that it is gained from the child's mother. With this not being a part of Vada's developmental process, she has a hard time taking the truth and trusting people. We see in the film Vada's experience of industry vs. inferiority when trying to create friends in the film. Vada has a hard time making friends with other girls in the movie, and her only real friend is Thomas J. Erik Erickson would say because of Vada's home life and loss of her friend Thomas J she has a hard time making relationships. She's also confused about her identity but knows she interested in writing. In Vada's life the loss of her mom affects her a lot, her dad moving on and getting a new girlfriend and having a mother figure around, her best friend Thomas J passing away, and her growing up a young woman all effect her development. Some things more than others but it allowed Vada so learn and grow so young.

chloeynelson07 — 2024-10-30 21:27:45 UTC

The Erikson theory is correct, but I do agree that these stages in your life can happen multiple different times. The theory explained why Vada felt the way she did towards Shelly when she first entered her dad's life. Without having that mother figure, she didn't learn the trust. I don't think the theory explained how she coped with Thomas J's death in the film and her love for her teacher. The theory is sort of a good fit for the assessment of Vada's life that we see but doesn't show it all the way. Given that Vada is a young girl growing up, it is a valid theory to use. The movie shows Vada growing up at a time in her life when everything is changing, and she is starting to have more gratitude toward life and death.