This paper applies Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development to the 1980 film Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford. Focusing primarily on stages five and six — identity versus role confusion, and intimacy versus isolation — the analysis traces protagonist Conrad Jarrett's psychological struggles following his brother Buck's death and his own suicide attempt. The paper examines how Conrad's overdependence on Buck prevented healthy adolescent individuation, how his hospitalization and therapy with Dr. Berger facilitate belated separation and growth, and how his mother Beth's emotional unavailability models the consequences of failing to resolve stage six conflict. Conrad's emerging relationships with Karen and Jeannine are also considered within Erikson's framework.
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On the surface, Ordinary People is a movie about loss. It focuses on a family recovering from the death of its oldest son. The older son, Buck, and the younger son, Conrad, are portrayed as stereotypical golden boys with lifetimes full of promise ahead of them. Both boys are strong swimmers on the swim team; however, while out together on a boat without any parents, they get into a boating accident. Buck is unable to save himself, and — perhaps more significantly — Conrad is unable to save Buck. Conrad spirals into a significant depression and attempts to commit suicide. He is hospitalized in a mental institution because of his suicide attempt.
The movie opens after Conrad returns home from the mental hospital and focuses on his attempts to reintegrate into his family and his suburban environment. Conrad's father, Calvin, is distraught about Buck's death but desperate for Conrad to heal and for the family to return to a state of normalcy. Conrad's mother, Beth, seems angry at Conrad throughout most of the movie. Conrad begins seeing a therapist, Dr. Berger, who helps him work through his feelings about his brother's death. Calvin and Beth's marriage continues to deteriorate while Conrad's health improves.
Conrad has a friendship with a girl named Karen, who was in the mental hospital with him. She tells him that she does not want to spend time with him because she fears a relapse — and she does eventually relapse and commit suicide. Conrad also begins dating a girl named Jeannine, who attends school with him. Her family has recently moved to the area, so she does not know Buck and is unaware of Conrad's suicide attempt. By the conclusion of the movie, the focus is on the relationship between Calvin and Conrad; because Beth refused to work on her marriage or help Conrad, Calvin has asked her to leave.
Watching the movie, an audience member cannot help but recognize the important role that social relationships play in the lives of each of the characters. The movie is about loss in many ways, and loss is only significant when one considers the social relationships that must underlie it. Furthermore, the loss extends beyond the death of Buck — it also encompasses the ongoing losses that individual family members continue to experience. Conrad and Calvin are both beginning to recognize that Beth's surface personality does not conceal a deeper emotional life; she wants to live in a superficial manner. Examining Conrad's development through the lens of Erik Erikson's psychosocial stages can therefore provide insight into how Conrad's social environment has helped shape his development. "According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future" (McLeod, 2013).
Examining the movie, it appears that Conrad — who is transitioning from adolescence into young adulthood — is experiencing two stages in Erikson's theory of life-stage development. For Erikson, there were eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage involves a conflict between two opposing positions. These stages are: trust vs. mistrust; autonomy vs. shame and doubt; initiative vs. guilt; industry vs. inferiority; identity vs. role confusion; intimacy vs. isolation; generativity vs. stagnation; and ego integrity vs. despair (Cherry, 2013).
Identity vs. role confusion is associated with adolescence and is generally experienced during the teenage years (Cherry, 2013). Intimacy vs. isolation is associated with young adulthood (Cherry, 2013). Conrad would ordinarily be in the intimacy vs. isolation stage, but the death of his brother — accompanied by his own suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization — has left him with lingering questions about his identity. In many ways, his sessions with Dr. Berger are aimed at helping him determine his own personal identity.
One of the reasons Conrad experiences role confusion is that his life was deeply intertwined with his older brother Buck's life. It is during adolescence that the individual begins to bear some responsibility for his or her own actions; until adolescence, a child's life is largely a function of what is done to the child (Harder, 2012). The adolescent is tasked with discovering an individuality separate from the family of origin and as a member of society (Harder, 2012). While Buck was alive, Conrad did not engage in the separation from his family that would normally be expected during this period. Buck was Conrad's best friend, and they did almost everything together. However, the things they did appear to have been based on Buck's preferences rather than Conrad's, and Conrad did not challenge this dynamic while Buck was alive. Instead, he seemed content to remain in Buck's shadow. Buck's abrupt death took Conrad's primary life role from him, and — no longer identified as Buck's little brother — Conrad was uncertain who he was.
Interestingly, although it occurs before the movie begins, Conrad's hospitalization imposed a period of forced separation and growth away from his family. In fact, although it was not a constructive means of acquiring distance, his unsuccessful attempt to take his own life — which would have resulted in him permanently remaining in Buck's shadow — may have been necessary for Conrad to actually begin his separation from his family. By surviving a near-death experience, Conrad becomes fundamentally different from Buck. That Conrad asserts independence in such a complicated manner is not surprising; adolescence is a time of growing complexity, as people struggle with social interactions, grapple with moral issues, and seek to find their own identities (Harder, 2012).
"Hospitalization as forced individuation and peer bonding"
"Dr. Berger helps Conrad assert independence"
"Conrad and Beth contrasted on intimacy capacity"
Once Conrad is able to realize that he has not earned his mother's disappointment or distaste, he can accept his father's efforts to establish an intimate relationship without his mother's participation. This sets the stage for him to have healthy relationships in his later adulthood. The film ultimately demonstrates that successfully navigating Erikson's psychosocial stages — even belatedly and imperfectly — depends heavily on the quality of one's social environment and on the willingness of at least some key figures in that environment to provide genuine emotional support.
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