Ron Kovic's Autobiography

I. Ron Kovic's autobiography, Born on the Fourth of July (New York: Pocket Books, 1977), divides his life into two periods. Time 1, the pro-war, period, includes his youth and his service in Vietnam. A working class boy who loved baseball and John Wayne, Kovic was good at sports. He also believed American propaganda about communists infiltrating America. Enlisting in the armed forces seemed to be the most honorable thing he could do. On his second tour in Vietnam, Kovic reached a crisis when he unintentionally killed an American corporal in a panic. He was then badly wounded, losing the use of his legs. In Time 2, the anti-war period, Kovic, shocked by people's indifference to Vietnam, overcame his isolation and engaged in many protest activities.

II. In Erikson's theory of identity development the individual passes through 8 stages. At each age-related stage the person must develop a particular virtue which will aid him/her in combating the opposite problem that occurs at that stage, and facilitate the acquisition of another stage-appropriate strength. Each stage is antecedent to the next and must be completed in order to pass on; repetition is necessary if the person does not manage it. The acquisition of psychosocial identity is usually precipitated by an identity crisis, during which the individual may experience identity diffusion or role confusion.

III. The age at which the acquisition of identity takes place is, generally, adolescence, ages 12-18. In Kovic

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man failure. As predicted, the person who avoids identity crisis will, eventually, be forced to confront it. And, if the struggle with identity is not completed, the individual will repeat his struggles until it is resolved or until he or she makes the decision to live in a suspended state in which the crisis is permanently left on hold (such as Kovic found in the armed forces). The stages and conflicts described by the theory all appeared in Kovic's autobiography. D. The explanatory power of the theory is also extremely high. Kovic himself, for instance, would not have been aware of why he presented the selection of facts, events, and influences that he did. But, if he were to apply Erikson's theory to his own life, it would make it clear that he was selecting precisely those items that defined an identity crisis, perhaps the most dramatic personal crisis a person faces--even if war and maiming injury are not part of his or her life. I. In Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf (New York: Signet, 1977), the protagonist is Humphrey Van Weyden (Hump), a wealthy literary critic who floats to sea after a ferry wreck and is rescued by Wolf Larsen, captain of the sealing ship Ghost. The sadistic Larsen forces Van Weyden to remain

Category: Psychology - R