On Golden Pond
Alexandra Herman
Developmental Psychology
December 1, 2013
Mark Rydell's "On Golden Pond" is a drama that emphasizes the stages people of various ages endures. Utilizing Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages as learned in class, each of the main characters can be placed within a stage and their age-related crises analyzed. The film being so close to a family's life, it becomes relatable to the audience, prompting personal reactions as well as implementing life examples of some of the theories studied in class. As there are plenty of characters that all develop changes throughout the movie, the most influential would be the main character, Norman Thayer. Throughout the movie Norman shows many prime examples or physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. All of these are tied into Norman's challenge of accepting the fact of his own age and maybe the idea of death.
On Golden Pond is based off of accepting the fact of age, family, and dying.
With this being the main focus the story goes deep and wraps around Norman's physical state. Norman is approaching his Eightieth birthday, and one can only imagine a person's physical appearance at this age. He is wrinkled all along his body, kind of like a shriveled up prune. Glasses rest upon his face, and he has very little hair, which he hides with a fisherman hat. Norman has many health problems such as arthritis and palpitations, but his most pressing health issue is his slow mental decline. He knows he is not at the top of his game anymore so grumpiness and a sharp tongue is his cover. According to Erikson's stages Norman would be considered in the Late Adulthood category. The physical state of people in this category is everything that Norman is facing. Vision becomes worse, hence why...