On Golden Pond

Mark Rydell’s “On Golden Pond” is a drama that emphasizes the stages people of various ages endures. Utilizing Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages as learned in Dr. Malone’s class, each of the main characters can be placed within a stage and their age-related crises analyzed. As this film is a drama, it was relatable to the audience, prompting personal reactions as well as implementing life examples of some of the theories studied in Malone’s class.
Perhaps the most significant character, Norman Thayer is a force to be reckoned with. A grumpy old miser, Norman may appear at times to not fully be capable of taking care of himself; however, he is still very sharp. Norman demonstrates Erikson’s last stage, termed Late Adulthood, which features the issue of integrity versus despair.
A person in late adulthood is much more concerned with his long-term future, death, than someone in a younger life stage. Early in the film Ethel remarks that death is all Norman thinks about, to which Norman responds, death is the most fascinating thing he has to think about. Besides looking into the future and comprehending death, a person in late adulthood, looks back upon his life and if he is satisfied with his life, past and presently, he feels a sense of integrity. However, if the person is dissatisfied with his life he is in a crisis of despair. It is obvious Norman is not satisfied with his life when he begins to browse the newspapers in search of a job. Norman often appears mad at everyone around him, but this anger is really directed at himself. For example, in the fire scene, Norman yells at Billy but really Norman is mad at himself. Ethel points out to Billy that Norman yells to “remind himself he still can”. Norman feels powerless as his aged body betrays him. Although Norman was smart alek and grumpy throughout the movie, he was much more pleasant after bonding with Billy.
Billy was a much needed remedy to Norman’s despair. Being around such a carefree yet, tenacious