A Developmental Perspective on the Effects of Terminal Illness
An underlying assumption of the literature on terminal illness is the belief that “facing a life threatening illness is a life crisis that intensifies the individual’s search for meaning” (Mcgrath, 2003). When making the overarching statement that all individuals search for meaning in their lives, it is important to acknowledge that this meaning and significance may be found in different ways. One’s reaction to having a terminal illness also differs based on the stage of development. This paper will examine how a terminal illness affects a person at adolescence and at middle adulthood and what it means to each of them, taking into account other variables such as gender, culture, and religiosity.
Jamie Sullivan of the film A Walk to Remember is an 18-year-old girl. She is a senior in high school and very involved in school activities. She gets good grades, tutors young children, participates in fundraisers, and writes and acts in the school play. Despite this level of involvement in extracurricular activities, she is somewhat of a loner. Her peers make fun of her for the way she dresses and talks. As a favor, she agrees to help her classmate Landon with his lines for the school play they are in together. After spending this time together, Jamie and Landon realize they are in love. Jamie then has to tell Landon that she has leukemia.
Jamie lives with her father, who is a reverend. She is active at church and sings in the choir. Jamie’s mother is dead, although it is not clear how she died or when, though it probably was when Jamie was a child. Jamie’s father seems to be the only family she has and they are very close. He is protective of her and at first, does not want to let her date Landon. However, when she reminds him, “I thought we said that I decide how I want to spend my time and my life,” he begrudgingly agrees to let her go out with him (Shankman, 2002). As explained in Lesser & Pope, adolescents may reject their parents’ definitions of what is in their
Jamie Sullivan of the film A Walk to Remember is an 18-year-old girl. She is a senior in high school and very involved in school activities. She gets good grades, tutors young children, participates in fundraisers, and writes and acts in the school play. Despite this level of involvement in extracurricular activities, she is somewhat of a loner. Her peers make fun of her for the way she dresses and talks. As a favor, she agrees to help her classmate Landon with his lines for the school play they are in together. After spending this time together, Jamie and Landon realize they are in love. Jamie then has to tell Landon that she has leukemia.
Jamie lives with her father, who is a reverend. She is active at church and sings in the choir. Jamie’s mother is dead, although it is not clear how she died or when, though it probably was when Jamie was a child. Jamie’s father seems to be the only family she has and they are very close. He is protective of her and at first, does not want to let her date Landon. However, when she reminds him, “I thought we said that I decide how I want to spend my time and my life,” he begrudgingly agrees to let her go out with him (Shankman, 2002). As explained in Lesser & Pope, adolescents may reject their parents’ definitions of what is in their
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