Analysis Of This Boys Life

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Recommended: Child and adolescent development

What will Toby be like as an adult?

According to many psychologists, early stages of childhood development are the foundation for post-adolescent experiences. So much so, that relational over-stimulation or under-stimulation can have long-term behavioral effects. In “This Boy’s Life” the main protagonist Toby experiences some provocative relationships and fluctuating environments during his early to adolescent development. Abuse becomes a variable, along with peer acceptance and paternal absence during this time as well. Due to this tumultuous upbringing, most would debate Toby would turn out to be an unpleasant adult, contrarily I will prove that Toby will undoubtedly go on to lead a productive life building healthier relationships than …show more content…

The intellectually liberation Jack London’s credo represents in a statement that he said, “I would rather be ashes than dust!” This correlation gives credence to Toby’s behaviors. By going through the proverbial “fire” rather than the boring existence of the dust, illustrating that Toby preferred to be impulsive like a flame rather than be docile like the dust, he is able to learn valuable life lessons that will serve him in the future. This was a form of Operant conditioning at its finest. The unpopular behaviors he continued to display through adolescence which is a result of his mother’s indulgent parenting style, served as a chance for Toby to truly reflect. Toby’s psychological strengths include his constant self-reflection, and humor. For this reason, Toby is aware of his lack of self-control in these environments but shows deep remorse and guilt for them. These revelations will ultimately help him gain more social conformity in his adult …show more content…

But his desire to conform became weaker as he matured and realized how unfair and abusive Dwight was being to him. His conformity became a defense mechanism of repression. Although, it can be looked at as a strength given a more fair and controlled environment. Additionally, what is fascinating is how Toby exhibits and masters all of the 9 psychological defense mechanisms at one point or another. According to Kohlberg’s stages of Moral Development, Toby operated in the second level or conventional stage of morality. He was looking for the right kinds of behaviors but never really had them consistently modeled until he moved to Concrete and interacted with

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