Assessment of Mr. Glen Holland, as Represented in the...

3/28/2011 Assessment of Mr. Glen Holland, as represented in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus According to Erik Erikson’s Stages of Development. This paper is an assessment of Mr. Holland, as represented in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus (19) using Erik Erikson’s Theory of development. The underlying theme that stretches throughout Erikson’s theory is that of balance (Hergenhahn amp; Olson, 2003). Erikson (1963) divided the life cycle of an individual into developmental stages (Meyer et al., 1997). Each stage of development is characterized by what Erikson called a crisis; he used the word crisis as it results in an important turning point in one’s life cycle. The crisis has the possibility of a positive or a negative†¦show more content†¦All of this extra work pays off, as Holland is able to realize the importance of what he is doing. Parts of the aforementioned section of the movie may be an indication that he may have had some unresolved issues in the adolescent stage of role confusion vs. identity. Adolescence is a stage at which we are neither a child nor an adult, life is definitely more complex. In this stage humans attempt to find an individual identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues. The task is to discover who we are as individuals. If a person is unsuccessful in navigating this stage, he or she will experience role confusion and upheaval. A significant task for a person is to establish a philosophy of life and in this process humans tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is usually filled with one conflict or another. Holland’s reality is that he has not yet completed the music piece he has strived for and needs to teach. This creates a conflict of time, as he feels he is getting too old to publish the musical work . Teaching takes up the time he needs to work on his music, causing him frustration. It appears that he has found it easy to substitute ideals for experience. His frustration becomes evident when he tells a student to give it up (referring to her horrible clarinet playing). Feeling guilt and shame over this statement he then begins a new