Michael Oher's The Blind Side

1290 Words3 Pages

Life is an ongoing process of learning and growing through challenges and experiences. It is mentioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet, that “unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Emerson contributes to the idea that change is inevitable and it is key to one’s personal development (Lipovetsky, 2012). Well, such is an essence in the film “The Blind Side” when the protagonist, Michael Oher, changes and grow through adversities, which eventually shaped him into the man he is today. Oher, also known as Big Mike, is a 16 year old African American teenage boy. Oher was one of the twelve children living in a broken extremely impoverished home in the ghettos of Memphis surrounded by drugs. …show more content…

His theory is sensible in the idea that social aspects are more significant in shaping the identity of the human personality (Kim, 2017). In Oher’s life, there was conflict as a result of social imbalances. For example, in Erikson’s Initial vs. Guilt stage: “Children either try to undertake many adultlike activities or internalize the limits and prohibitions set by parents. They feel either adventurous or guilty” (Berger, 2014). Most children are able to develop a sense of guilt with standards set by their parent, and initiative usually transpires with parental support; however, Oher lacked both guilt and initiative because Oher’s mother was not active in his life and so experiences no parental repercussion; and he was not encouraged, nor successful since he repeatedly did not attend …show more content…

This is where he fell in love with the game of football and he knows that to play in the pro league, he had to improve his education. He received educational support and it was critical since he did not develop education prior to living the the Tuohy’s. Moreover, when having a conversation with Leigh Anne Tuohy, his adopted mother, about his football decision, she replies: “It’s your life, Michael, it’s your life” (Hancock, Netter, Smith,..., 2010). Michael comes to the understanding that his identity as a Tuohy, a black male, and a football player, does not have to come with any pressures or expectations (Kim, 2017). He realizes that he is able to decide for himself who he wants to be, and chooses to attend University of Mississippi and accept his football scholarship . This is essential on his development because his choice to focus on athletics, improve his GPA, and choosing a school to attend and play football allows Michael to develop a sense of identity and

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