Glenn Gould

1156 Words3 Pages

This book discusses the life of Glenn Gould who was a profound pianist known for his classical music, Peter Ostwald a late violinist who wrote “The Ecstasy and Tragedy of Genius of Glenn Gould” believed that Gould was extraordinary gifted and that his music gained much appreciation among the people in the community. He not only saw Gould as a genius but also as a companion who struggled to find peace in his life through the sound of music. Gould didn’t act like a normal child he isolated himself from others because he felt that others around him did not share the same passion for music. His father noticed when he was born that instead of crying, “Glenn always hum” (Ostwald, 1997). This showed that Glenn was born with a passion towards music from the very early stages of life. Gould formed behaviors of an ambivalent attachment style towards his mother and behaviors of a secure attachment towards his father this impacted his ability to form long lasting relationships with people during his childhood progressing into his adult years. (My thesis) Throughout Gould’s childhood he had an enmeshed relationship with his mother Flora, that is why I believe that Gould has formed an ambivalent attachment towards his mother because his mother was very controlling and demanding at times and she would always discourage him from getting too close to crowds as she was afraid of him getting germs and forming intricate relationships with his peers (Ostwald, 1997). Because of this type of attitude Glenn isolated himself from his peers. Therefore, Levy & Ellison state that Bowlby’s attachment theory “refers to a person’s characteristic ways of relating intimate caregiving and receiving relationships with attachment figures’’(cite). According to Hrr... ... middle of paper ... ...ionships because he was afraid of losing them in the process. However, I believe he did this in order to protect himself as he felt he was going to lose the support of his mother due to the ambivalent attachment behaviors he developed when he was a child. However, as Glenn reached young adulthood at the age of nineteen he dropped out of college and isolated himself from his parents and the rest of the world. I believe that this was the time when he realized that the separation from his parents did not mean death but finding his own place in the world. However, this left him with an increased amount of anxiety, which led him towards making his own mistakes learning that life is not always easy as it seems. Because of his anxiousness he soon began developing symptoms of a ‘hypochondriac’ as he associated even a “minor ache as a medical emergency” (Ostwald, 1997).

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