Obsessive Attention To Ritualized Behavior

the way he viewed the music industry and affected the way he saw himself in the world – he saw himself solely as a musician. Gould’s adolescence was when he started to express many of his quirks. After Gould was born, many noticed that he was an abnormal baby. Glenn would hum in situations that should have made him cry and his fingers were always moving “as if he’s play a scale” (Ostwald, 1998, p. 41). However later in his life, Gould started displaying symptoms of Asperger Disease – “a marked fear of certain physical objects, disturbances in empathy, social withdrawal, self-isolation, and obsessive attention to ritualized behavior” (Ostwald, 1998, p. 42). His self-isolation began when he was in grade school. Gould found a friend in the musically
talented, Robert Fulford (Ostwald, 1998). Their similar interests in music quickly formed a strong bond between the two boys (Ostwald, 1998). However, Fulford noticed that Gould was not a normal child for his age (Ostwald, 1998). “Glenn always sought to create an impression of fierce independence, of being someone for whom human interaction and intimacy were totally inessential” (Ostwald, 1998, p. 58).
Even so, the uniqueness of his personality still attracted many individuals. These relationships, however, had conditions. “…when the time came, as it inevitably did, that criticism or viewpoints were expressed that Glenn could not tolerate, he would quickly break off the relationship” (Ostwald, 1998, p. 59). He believed that interaction with people was not necessary, it was only necessary if they can gain something out of them. He reveled in isolation. Fulford witnessed many other developmental issues of Gould’s such as his problem coping with his sexuality. The novel stated that Gould lacked any sort of sexual interest in girls. Fulford believes that this is due to his mother’s avoidance to anything sexual and how he and his father would alternate sleeping beside her without a single word of disapproval from his father (Ostwald, 1998). Lanyado and Horne (1999) explains that in order to mature emotionally one must reduce their intimacy with their parents. His adulthood is evident of this emotional immaturity with his lack of empathy which will be explored later. The book also recognized Gould’s absence of the “rebellious teenager” phase. “If Glenn had a rebellious
streak, it took form of playful jousting with his mother, mostly about differences in their musical taste” (Ostwald, 1998, p. 61). Rebellion is an indication that a child is wanting to separate from the parents to create his or her own identity (Hudson, n.d.). Because Gould missed this phase, he was not able to separate from his parents and form his own self-image. Adolescence is a key time of transition. Due to the way he was raised, Gould was not able to learn at a pace that accommodated proper development. In his early childhood, he made choices that were impractical for him at the time, like becoming a concert pianist at six years old. Gould also lacked a way to address the emotional and physiological changes he was going through. And because of the improper choices he made and the odd way he coped with puberty, the way he developed his sense of identity was inadequate. Because of his childhood and adolescence, Gould was not able to appropriately create his own identity.
“This [adulthood] entails a developed capacity for intimacy, responsibility, and autonomy” (Lanyado & Horne, 1999, p. 39). And it is evident that Gould had several problems with intimacy, empathy, and coping in his adulthood. When Ostwald first met Gould in 1957, he instantly was instantly met with his peculiarities. One, in particular, being his attachment problem. Gould revealed a fair bit about himself at their initial meeting and he got attached quite quickly to Ostwald. There were other manifestations of Gould’s supposed Asperger’s Disease in his life. He embraced self-isolation, he spent much of his downtime in his parent’s cottage at Lake Simcoe where he would read and compose music (Ostwald, 1998). At the age of thirty-five, Gould embarked on a journey to the north to relish in his solitude (Ostwald,
1998).