I. Part II
i. Introduction
Art Buchwald story is a master piece in terms of bringing out how developmental theories play out in real life. Art Buchwald has a life that is deficient of love. He has grown without the parental love that many children enjoy. He does not have a sense of what parental love really looks like. Buchwald argues that this experience during his childhood left a scar in his brain that was difficult to heal (Townsend, 2011, p.27).This paper intends to use Art Buchwald’s story to identify the different developmental phases that are articulated by the following theorists: Erickson, Mahler, and Piaget.
ii. Theoretical Analysis of Buchwald’s Story
First, it is clear that like any other child Art Buchwald had the hopes of becoming someone in life. He had an equal footing with other children who born during his time of birth. Between his birth and the first year, Erickson’s theory argues that he should have been developing aspects of trust and mistrust. At this period of life, a child is more attached to its mother. Buchwald’s life began to get complicated right from his infancy. It was during his infancy that he lost his mother. This as a sensitive time to loss his mother because a mother serves a as a bridge between the child and the world at this juncture. Buchwald’s father puts him in a foster home at this time. This turned out to be disastrous in that Buchwald had no body to trust. If anything, Buchwald felt a feeling of mistrust to everybody who surrounded him. His father who could have become a substitute for the lost motherly love was nowhere to be found. His father only showed up on Sundays (Viorst, 1998, p.37). Instead of being part of his life, his father turned out to be a stranger in his life. There was no sense of connection between him and his father at all. Though he was his biological parent, his father was no different than the other people who surrounded Buchwald.
Buchwald’s childhood experiences during this period are also in line with Piaget’s theory of development in that it is at this stage that Buchwald needed to feel assimilated and accommodated into the family unit. At this time, Buchwald should have had a great connection with his mother and parents in that there are supposed to be the source of a loving environment for his childhood growth. In fact, Buchwald develops a sense of anger in that he believes that if his father was physically present during his younger years, he would have developed a sense of connection to the family unit.
Mahler developmental theory refers to this stage as being the symbiotic stage where the young child views himself and his mother as being a single entity. Buchwald lacked a single person in his life who would play the role of a mother from his infancy. He was exposed to different personalities due to the fact that he kept on being moved from one foster home to the next. This makes Buchwald to lack the connection that is necessary to create family bonds. Buchwald grows without having a specific location or vicinity that he would term to as his own home. The presence of many foster families makes him to have a single entity that he would connect to.
As Buchwald approached three years, he entered the second developmental stage. In this stage Art Buchwald was struggling was developing a sense of doubt. This is in line with Erikson’s second stage that argues that a child between one to three years struggles between the sense of autonomy, doubt and shame. During this period, Buchwald was not proud of he was. Like any other child, who had been living a satisfactory life, he desired that he would be somebody else. However, at this tender age there was nothing that he could do about his life. He had to live according to what his father felt as being best for him. This is the reason as to why he kept being moved from one foster home to another (Viorst, 1998, p.28).He did not have the guts to say no to these actions. If he was to live, he had to accept what his father deemed to be best for him. His life continued to be more challenging in that he began to develop the feeling of Shame. Some of the worst realities that he came to terms with were the idea that he was an orphan meaning that he did not have parents. However, this is saddening bearing in mind that he had a father who could take care of him and give him the parental love that he did not enjoy. This accounts for reason why he explains that he was not able to forgive his own father even during his adulthood. Failure of one’s father to take care of his own children and being there for them at all times is a mental picture that is difficult to forget. This is a phenomenon that haunts one forever. In fact, it was from his father’s commitment to raising him up that could cause him not to fear responsibility in his future life.
Erikson’s developmental theory explains that at the age of 3 to 6 years children develop a sense of purpose. It is at this time that children are more connected to family (Townsend, 2011, p.51). However, Buchwald did have anyone by his side, to guild him through his life at this crucial time. Erikson points out that it is during this time that children learn to use different tools and tend to learn what their strengths and talents are. This is the time that Buchwald needed his father the most. However, his father continued the trend of taking Buchwald and his siblings from one foster home to another. The most hurting experience that Buchwald remembers at this stage was when he and his siblings were kept under the custody of an old woman. The old woman had the will and heart to raise the four children but over time, it becomes unbearable to raise the four children all together. Therefore, Buchwald and a few of his siblings are forced to leave and go to another foster home. This brings out a feeling of resentment in a world that Buchwald was struggling to acquire some love. In fact, this move to separate the four siblings from each other complicates the situation for Buchwald in that being the youngest he needed the rest of his siblings for a sense of company and moral support as he moved through the difficult waves that surrounded his life.
Mahler theory as well as Erikson’s development theory brings out the idea that between the age of 6 to 12 years, children begin to develop a sense of either superiority or inferiority. In the case of Buchwald, he developed a sense of inferiority. This is because he did have the inward confidence that is expected of him at this age. His father, who would have helped him to develop this feeling did not avail himself. All that his father did was to show up on Sunday’s to see him. Seeing him once a week, means that his father did not spend enough time with him (Townsend, 2011, p.53). This time was not enough for his father to interact with him in terms of developing his passion for things like sports or academics. Therefore, the intelligence that Buchwald had developed at this time was based on his own inborn wit and did not result from any effort that his father put in order to ensure that his life was a success. Piaget’s theory also argues that it is at this age that a child begins to use logic to analyze the situation that there are in. Therefore, at this stage Buchwald clearly understood that his father did spend ample time with him but left this role to the foster homes where he grew up.
Piaget theory explains that between the ages of 12 to 19 years. At this age, Erickson’s theory points out that a person develops a sense of identity. A person learns to look for love by looking for friends or other partners who can make him or her develop the feeling of love. It was at this stage that Art Buchwald was taken back to his father’s house. However, though he was now close to his father due to the fact that he was living in his father’s house he did not feel the feeling of love. Buchwald felt that this was not the right place to be. He felt that he would not spend more time this premises. His father was still the stranger he used to be when he come to visit him on once a week when he lived in his foster homes. This accounts for the reason as why Buchwald runs away from his father’s house to join the Marine Corp (Viorst, 1998, p.37). When he joined the marine corp., Buchwald felt a sense of belonging, he felt that he was in the place that he was supposed to be because the people who were around him valued and loved on him(Viorst, 1998, p.29). They saw him as being part and parcel of the marine corp family. This is the kind of love that he had missed out for a long time in his life. Looking at the sixth phase based on Erikson’s theory, at the age of 19 and 25 a person is supposed to develop a sense of intimacy or isolation. Buchwald is quick to point out that though he had a wife and three children, he still had issues with intimacy. This can be attributed to the fact that his father did not set a good example for him. He was not as a close to his children as it would have been expected. Therefore, Buchwald grew up with the fear of being like his own father. This is the reason why he feared intimacy (Townsend, 2011, p.54). This fear for intimacy also explains the reason why he feared being angry. He clearly understood that being angry would ruin his family. He tried as much as he could to make sure that he was not angry.
Erikson’s theory also brings out the idea that at the age of 25 to 65 a person is either prosperous or stagnant in terms of his socio-economic development. In the case of Buchwald, he is prosperous in that he has a good job as a writer in Washington. He has a family that he looks after. This means that his childhood experiences have not deterred him from becoming somebody useful in life.
Erikson’s theory brings out the idea that after 65 years of age, a person begins to reflect on his past life. This either brings a sense of despair or integrity. In the case of Buchwald, he has learnt a lot from his life. He has learnt to appreciate and accept the fact that though he did not have an admirable childhood, he was still able to make it in life. Therefore he should not be concerned by the fact that his life was not perfect but should be happy that he finally ended up becoming an important person in life.
iii. Conclusion
Art Buchwald’s childhood experiences are a clear indication that parents and the family unit as are fundamental for the successful growth and development of an individual. Buchwald’s life feels incomplete in that his mother died during his infancy leaving a void that could not be filled. Buchwald’s father, who would have substitute the motherly love that the dead mother, was nowhere to be found. This caused Buchwald to lead a childhood that was full of shame, inferiority, and resentment from the external world that surrounded him. This accounts for the reason as to why Buchwald had a troubled childhood.
II. Part III
i. introduction
Many people who are successful in the world that we live in today were not born to successful families. It was because of their in-built strength and motivation that they have ended up to become successful people in life. The case of Art Buchwald is a manifestation of this idea. His mother died during his infancy while his father put him and his siblings in multiple foster homes but that did not deter him from becoming a successful person in life (Viorst, 1998, p.39).
ii. Lessons for Buchwald’s Story
Buchwald learnt from his childhood that the approach to life should always be positive. Though life seemed to be difficult, approaching life with a positive mind would help him to accomplish a lot of things. One of the big lessons that he learnt from his childhood experiences was that always having a smile even though your life was not going well would do him a lot of justice. This is because the people around him would always love on him becomes a smile indicates that he is a jovial and welcoming person. In addition, the smile would prevent him from getting angry more often. With less anger, it was less likely that he would suffer from depression. Another important lesson that Buchwald learnt was the idea that being angry at his own father was not an irrational thing to do(Viorst,1998, p.31).This action was justified in that his father had failed to be there for him when he needed him the most. Therefore, the fear of being angry at his father would create more confusion in his life. When Buchwald come to terms with this reality his life changed in that he was able to appreciate who he was and also learned not fear to approach the realities of life even though they seemed unbearable.
iii. Conclusion
In conclusion one of the important things to draw from the story of Art Buchwald is the fact that even though life seems to be difficult in our part, we have the potential of shaping our future life so that it not the same as our experiences during our childhood. This story also challenges parents to make sure that they are part of their children’s growth in that history will judge them harshly in the future if they do not assume this responsibility.
Townsend, M., C. (2011). Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Concepts of Care in
Evidence-Based Practice. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: F. A. Davis Company.
Viorst, J. (1998). Necessary losses: the loves, illusions, dependencies, and
impossible expectations that all of us have to give in order to grow. New
York: Simon & Schuster Inc.
