Life is composed of different stages, learning experiences, and constant emotional and mental growth. Erik Erikson’s developmental theory consists of eight psychosocial stages of the human psyche. Five of them happen before the age of eighteen and it is proposed that these beginning stages of life have the most influence on the type of person one will become. The last three stages is the emotional turmoil a person faces through the rest of their life, such as what career to choose, marriage, children, and finally whether or not they have had a fulfilling life. The last stage, Ego Integrity vs. Despair, explains after the age of sixty-five, a person settles down as a retiree and reflects upon their life. They can either be satisfied with their
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With this in mind, we look deeper into the properties of the final stage, Ego Integrity vs. Despair. Each stage leads to character development and newfound traits, such as care and trustfulness. Wisdom, is the last character development and it is the result of a person believing they have lived their life to the fullest. The Jilting of Granny Weatherall features Weatherall contemplating her life on her deathbed. At a glance, it seems Weatherall is content with her life, “When she thought of all the food she had cooked, and all the clothes she had cut and sewed, and all the gardens she had made – well, the children showed it. There they were, made out of her, and they couldn’t get away from that. Sometimes she wanted to see John again and point to them and say, Well, I didn’t do so badly, did I? But that would have to wait. That was for tomorrow.” However, if you look deeper into her thoughts, she has not gotten over the fact she was “jilted” at the alter sixty years prior. Instead of feeling fulfilled that she raised her children after her husband died, that she worked for years, made sure her children were fed, she feels the need to prove to the man who jilted her, George, that she survived his brutal …show more content…
Instead, she would be thinking about her children, about her late husband, what she loved about her life, not using her life as a way to get back at George, “…after sixty years and she would like to see George. I want you to find George. Find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him. I want him to know I had my husband just the same and my children and my house like any other woman. A good house too and a good husband that I loved and fine children out of him. Better than I had hoped for even. Tell him I was given back everything he took away and more.” Weatherall falls into despair, obviously displeased with the events that occurred in her lifetime. “For a second time there was no sign. Again no bridegroom and the priest in the house. She could not remember any other sorrow because this grief wiped them all away. Oh, no, there’s nothing more cruel than this – I’ll never forgive it. She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light”, not only that, but she feels even more desperate and hopeless as she feels herself dying and cannot find a sign of God. Granny Weatherall feels that she was jilted for the last time, displeased with her life, lying to herself to prove George wrong, and dies in
With this in mind, we look deeper into the properties of the final stage, Ego Integrity vs. Despair. Each stage leads to character development and newfound traits, such as care and trustfulness. Wisdom, is the last character development and it is the result of a person believing they have lived their life to the fullest. The Jilting of Granny Weatherall features Weatherall contemplating her life on her deathbed. At a glance, it seems Weatherall is content with her life, “When she thought of all the food she had cooked, and all the clothes she had cut and sewed, and all the gardens she had made – well, the children showed it. There they were, made out of her, and they couldn’t get away from that. Sometimes she wanted to see John again and point to them and say, Well, I didn’t do so badly, did I? But that would have to wait. That was for tomorrow.” However, if you look deeper into her thoughts, she has not gotten over the fact she was “jilted” at the alter sixty years prior. Instead of feeling fulfilled that she raised her children after her husband died, that she worked for years, made sure her children were fed, she feels the need to prove to the man who jilted her, George, that she survived his brutal …show more content…
Instead, she would be thinking about her children, about her late husband, what she loved about her life, not using her life as a way to get back at George, “…after sixty years and she would like to see George. I want you to find George. Find him and be sure to tell him I forgot him. I want him to know I had my husband just the same and my children and my house like any other woman. A good house too and a good husband that I loved and fine children out of him. Better than I had hoped for even. Tell him I was given back everything he took away and more.” Weatherall falls into despair, obviously displeased with the events that occurred in her lifetime. “For a second time there was no sign. Again no bridegroom and the priest in the house. She could not remember any other sorrow because this grief wiped them all away. Oh, no, there’s nothing more cruel than this – I’ll never forgive it. She stretched herself with a deep breath and blew out the light”, not only that, but she feels even more desperate and hopeless as she feels herself dying and cannot find a sign of God. Granny Weatherall feels that she was jilted for the last time, displeased with her life, lying to herself to prove George wrong, and dies in