personality theories

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move to the next stage.
Development:
Gilbert successfully passed through the oral stage of development which is focuses on pleasure through the mouth. During this stage the child is fully dependent on the parent and by developing comfort and trust, he is able to become less dependent. It does not seem like he became fixated at this stage because he learned not only to take care of himself, but also to take care of Arnie and the rest of his family. The next stage is the Anal stage, which focuses on toilet training. A child at this level must successfully learn control his bodily needs with the support and encouragement of parents at the right time. If parents are too lenient during this stage of development, the child will develop a destructive personality. If they are too strict the child would develop an obsessive personality. On a brighter note, the child that is able to succeed at the anal stage would become a competent and productive adult. Again it does not seem like Gilbert became fixated at the anal stage because he is indeed a competent young adult who was able to get a job to sustain the family’s needs. Furthermore he is very productive at his job, which is why his boss is nice not only to him but also to his family. For example, when Arnie wanted some candy and Gilbert said he could not buy it for him, his boss placed the candy inside Gilbert’s grocery bag and told him that he could have it.
The next stage of development that more accurately describes Gilbert’s personality is the phallic stage. Freud’s theory indicates that a fixation occurs when the parents’ relationships are either too punitive or too indulgent. In the theory a fixation occurs when a person gets stuck at a particular stage of development, and he c...

... middle of paper ...

...uld just be passing through as well.
At a later point he is able to become an active-constructive because he started working constructively in order to bring the change that he wanted to see. First, he ended his relationship with Betty and pursued Becky, who represents the freedom that he wishes to attain. A stronger evidence of change is seen when he decides to disappear and run away from his problems, but instead of doing that he makes the U-turn and goes back to fix them himself. When the mother dies he leaves with Becky to travel around the world like he had wished; by that he is taking action into changing his future. Also his decision of taking Arnie provides evidence that he is succeeding in achieving perfection and the people around him are not being hurt by his actions. Therefore Gilbert actively and constructively made the changed that he had longed for.

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