Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional cartoon character in the second longest running cartoon ever made; “South Park”. Eric is a cynical, overweight child that often assumes the position of an antagonist in episodes, demonstrating that he will stop at no costs to get what he wants, even if it means intentionally harming his “friends”. Eric lives with his mother in South Park and has never had a relationship with his father or even met him. It was established in season two that Cartman’s mother, Liane, was an intersexual who fathered as well as mothered Cartman. Although, recent episodes have suggested that this was a lie and that in upcoming episodes Cartman’s father would be identified. Cartman’s mother often spoils him, buying him whatever …show more content…
he wants and waiting on him constantly for food and anything else. If Liane does not immediately obey Eric’s demands then he begins to whine or scream until Liane succumbs to his request. Eric attends Mr. Garrison’s class in the fourth grade with his friends, the other main characters in South Park; Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Kyle Broflowski. Eric is known as “the fat one” in his group of friends;however, he consistently denies that he is overweight and insists that he is “big boned.” Eric and Kyle have shown hostility towards one another since the shows beginning, with Cartman exposing Kyle to slander and anti-Semitic insults for being Jewish. In an episode following the release of “The Passion of the Christ”, Cartman begins a fan club for Mel Gibson which turns into an anti-Jewish group. He resembles Adolf Hitler the more the episode goes on and boasts of a “final solution” to problems. Eric and Kyle’s turmoil continues throughout episodes increasing in intensity, with Eric occasionally trying to kill Kyle merely because he is Jewish. Although in one episode, it is shown that Eric has a chance to get rid of Kyle forever and chooses to save him instead. This suggests that Cartman’s hatred for Kyle is not a nuisance but rather something that Cartman seeks out for pleasure. Behaviorist Perspective Applying the Behaviorist perspective of personality to Cartman, one breeds an understanding regarding his learned helplessness. Eric’s continuous whining for whatever he desires is reinforced by his mother since minor whining and complaining does not get her attention all the time, but after a consistent amount of whining Liane will always cave to his demands. This partial reinforcement after consecutive complaining and sympathetic “but mom” comments, leads the frequency of those behaviors to skyrocket. Upon Eric learning that he could override what his mother said by using verbal force, Liane becomes very unsuccessful at being a disciplinarian to her son. This “bullying” behavior Cartman uses with his mom also carries over to his behavior with classmates and peers as he often gets Butters to do what he wants by using verbal force and threats. Cartman largely seeks out experiences where other people get hurt or another’s pain is evident.
Seeing other people suffer, especially after they have wronged him is a major internal reinforcement for Cartman’s behavior and guides much of it. In a season five episode “Scott Tenorman Must Die” Cartman is cheated out of $16.12 by an older boy named Scott Tenorman and then repeatedly embarrassed by him. After consecutive failed attempts to try and get even with Scott Tenorman, Cartman finally executes a sadistic scheme. Upon realizing that the local farmer shoots any trespassers, Cartman lures Scott Tenorman’s parents to the farm where they are shot and killed by the farmer. Cartman then proceeds to make chili out of the remains of Scott’s parents and then feeds the boy a bowl at the Chili Carnival in town. This was considered the most extreme of Cartman’s behaviors executed out of spite for another …show more content…
character. Eric’s repeated attempts at unsuccessful behaviors again reflect Cartman’s “learning” through partial reinforcement by his mother. He has learned that not every behavioral attempt breeds a reward, but repeating the behavior or different variations of the behavior usually will lead to reward. This consistency or one-mindedness in a single behavior carries over into every aspect of Eric’s life as he becomes obsessed with one thing at a time. In a season ten episode “Go God Go”, Cartman becomes so anxious to get the new video game council, the Nintendo Wii. Not being able to wait another two weeks, Cartman develops a plan to freeze himself and then have Butters unfreeze him in two weeks. After freezing, Cartman is lost and is awakened thousands of years in the future to a futuristic world and all sorts of problems. Stubborn Cartman still only wants to play the Wii despite the world being in extreme turmoil in the future. His attempts fail each time, eventually he is finally sent back to his own time only to realize that he was sent back three months away from the first day of the Wii sale instead of the original two weeks. Upon realizing this tragedy he once again resorts to freezing himself to pass the time instead of being safe and waiting the duration of time. This seemingly illogical decision making may represent a premature frontal lobe development affecting Cartman’s ability to make rational decisions. Psychoanalytic Perspective Eric can also be analyzed through Sigmund Freud’s psychology, the Psychoanalytic perspective.
The Psychoanalytic perspective involves three “parts” of the brain: the ego, id, and superego. Behind each “part” there are working principles: the id controls pleasure drives and satisfying self needs, the superego controls the standard by which you make decisions or one’s moral compass, and the ego balances the two into a reality, taking both into account as well as what would be acceptable actions for oneself in public or society. Cartman’s actions and behaviors show that he is dominated by his id, acting solely on principles of pleasure and personal fulfillment. His ego does not show balance between the id and superego, but rather comes out just as the id. As a fourth grader, it is somewhat normal for Eric to be dominated by his id, though not to the extent of which he is. Still under the watch and direct care from their parents, the superego “area” of the child’s mind is still mostly seen on their caregiver. Eric’s id is overwhelmingly dominate in this balance system, and may cause significant problems as he grows older and sexuality plays a dominate role in the behaviors of the id. As an only-child who is repeatedly spoiled, receiving anything he wants from his mom, one can get an idea of how such a dominant id was
formed. Cartman shows fixation at the oral stage of psychosexual development since he has a large concern with being mothered and taken care of. He is also preoccupied with keeping his mouth full of desired foods such as KFC, Cheesypoofs, and chicken pot pies. Cartman’s mother is a promiscuous single parent who has been known to take drugs as recreational use. She attempts to make up for her shortcomings as a parent by spoiling him with food, television, and video games. Cartman demands authority over peers and others in general. In a season two episode, __ Cartman becomes an honorary police officer and takes the job too seriously, arresting friend’s parents and beating innocent people with a wooden baton. Cartman’s need for a position of power can be explained by the psychoanalytic perspective as a defense mechanism to cope with the lack of power and respect he gets from his peers. The most reoccurring defense mechanism used by Cartman is his explanation for his size, claiming that he’s not fat but rather “big-boned.” For reassurance on the subject of his weight, Cartman asks his mother, and she agrees with him regardless. Discussion Eric Cartman has characteristics of an extreme personality disorder such as psychopathy or sociopathy. Eric’s treatment of peers and other members of society in South Park reflect an extreme lack of empathy towards others. This lack of empathy is combined with strong amoral conduct, or the fact that morality or a moral compass is something that rarely affects Cartman’s behavior. Cartman maintains a lot of characteristics associated with a sociopath or psychopath; using charisma, manipulation, intimidation, and violence as a means of controlling others and fulfilling one’s own needs. The description of a psychopath fits Eric Cartman’s personality to exact specification; “Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse”. Other children are alienated by Cartman’s racist, insensitive, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, lazy, misogynistic, self-righteous, and wildly insecure behavior. Sometimes the other children are influenced by his manipulative, obtrusive, and propagandist behavior, by joining him in whatever antics he may be getting into. Cartman shows a significant amount of personal greed as several episodes focus on get-rich-quick schemes where Eric tries to make a million dollars. Eric’s entire character is "directed either toward accomplishing his own happiness or the unhappiness of others", despite his aggression towards peers Cartman often feigns actual friendship with his fellow classmates when needing a favor. The lack of a true father figure in his life, and Liane’s promiscuity and drug use has caused repressed a psychological hardship in Cartman's life. If not properly addressed and managed these hardships may lead to a life of criminal behavior and punishment.
The man claims he is waiting for Death to take him for some time, and the angered men are enraged by the name Death. The rioters ask where to find Death, and the old man says they can find death under a certain oak tree. The rioters rush to the tree and find gold coins. The men do not want to be taken as thieves, as discover a plan to transport the gold at night. The men direct the youngest to retreat back to town and grab wine. While the youngest is away, the two remaining men design a plan to kill the third to increase their profits. The man in town is also consumed by greed, and he decides to poison the wine. Retreating with the poison wine, the youngest man is killed by the other two rioters. To celebrate, the two men drink the wine. Within minutes, all three of the greedy rioters are dead. After his tale, the Pardoner asked the group for
When Carton is being taken to the guillotine, he meets a young seamstress who was imprisoned with Darnay. She soon discovers that Carton is not actually Darnay, ““Are you dying for him?” she whispered. “And his wife and child. Hush! Yes.”” (Dickens 365). Caron is asked by the seamstress if he is sacrificing himself for Darnay. Carton replies that he is, but also for Darnay’s wife and child, Lucie and little Lucie. This shows why Carton is sacrificing himself. Carton, though he is saving Darnay’s life, is ultimately giving his life to save Lucie and her child, as well as the future children she and Darnay will have. His love for Lucie is the true reason he commits such an act of self-violence. Sydney Carton’s sacrifice is heroic because he willingly gives his life to save Darnay’s and to preserve the happiness of his family (Keck). Carton is ultimately driven by his love for the Manette family, and his desire to protect them and the love they have for one another. Though Sydney Carton is seemingly a failure, “his redeeming grace is his love for Lucie, which persuades him to sacrifice himself so that she and her family can escape” (Plot Summary). Again, this shows that Carton’s sacrifice is driven by the love he holds for Lucie. Everything Carton told Lucie he would do for her and her family has ultimately
The thought of Freud has a total focus on an individual’s mind and how this internal struggle effects how humans interact within society. Freud argues that every human has three functional parts of their personality that exist within the mind itself: the id, super-ego and the ego. Thurschwell describes these three layers as how they relate to each other. The id is the deepest level of the unconscious, which is dominated by the pleasure principle and has no concept of time except for the present, demanding instant gratification of sexual and aggressive (Eros and Thanatos) urges. The superego originates through identification with the individuals parents, functioning as an internal censor witch represses the dangerous urges of the id. The ego starts as part of the id but is more sensible as it has knowledge of the outside world. Unlike the id, the ego is dominated by the instinct to protect oneself. Although these three layers cannot be physically mapped out in the mind they do show how Freud constantly focused on the internal mind...
With the lack of a father figure as well as not fitting in with his peers, Erickson was in a state of confusion with his identity he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Heavily influenced by Sigmund Freud and his loss of identity, Erickson believed that personality developed through many phases life. Unlike Freud, who focused on psychosexual development, Erickson believed that the impact of social interactions and experience plays a role in development and growth.
In addition to Freud’s stages of development his best-known concepts are those of the id, ego, and superego (Crain, p. 268). The id personality called ‘the unconscious” is the personality that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain through reflexes and drives such as hunger or bladder tensions (Crain, pp. 268-269). The id concept is impulsive, chaotic and unrealistic.
Freud believed that one’s sex instinct was the most determining factor of his or her personality; however, instead of relating sex to the mature class of humanity, he instead targeted infants and children (4). He generated a process of psychosexual stages in which each stage focuses in on a sensual body part and a corresponding time period in life (4). The stages are as followed, starting from birth: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital (4). Furthermore, each stage comes with its own conflict that arises when one is in this stage. He correlates that if this conflict is not solved during the set period of time, it can cause a fixation, thus bringing on personality traits in their adulthood relating back to that certain stage (4). For example, for one who is in the Anal stage (1 to 3 years) the conflict is toilet training. If the child remains too long or too briefly in this stage, later on in the future they could be more excessively cleanly or even destructive and rebellious (4). Perhaps the stage that was targeted with the most criticism, was the Phallic Stage or the Genitals stage occurring from 3 to 5 or 6 years (4). This stage mainly declared that young boys are more drawn to their mother and become more hostile towards their fathers, hinting to the underlying ideas that the young boys are sexually drawn to their mother. In a vice versa scenario,
According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, who is known for his theory of psychoanalysis, the human mind contains “a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories” (Meyers 597). These unconscious desires then resurface and develop into the impulses for one’s actions and thoughts. Moreover, one of the most prominent and often times controversial ideas of this theory is the Oedipus complex. In Meyer’s textbook of psychology, the Oedipus complex is described as affecting young males by causing the development of sexual desires for their mothers and also jealousy towards their fathers
Despite the fact that the psychoanalytic approach is the most controversial interpretation of literature, it proves to be utterly intriguing. In stories such as this, the sexual undertones are clearly evident, and thus substantiate the intricacies behind the approach. Perhaps it is a bit untraditional. However, this investigation remains both thought provoking and brilliantly compelling.
Sigmund Freud believed that adults seduced children and this is where their problems came up in adulthood. As for all things, many people did not agree with Freud’s theory. “Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining insight” (McLeod, “Psychoanalysis”). According to Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory, there are three elements of personality the id, ego and superego. The id is an individual’s inner child.
Freud emphasized that early childhood experiences are important to the development of the adult personality, proposing that childhood development took place over five stages; oral, anal. Phallic, latent and genital. The phallic stage is the most important stage which contains the Oedipus complex. This is where the child (age 4 - 6 yrs) posses the opposite sex parent and wants rid of the same sex parent. Freud argued that if the conflict is not resolved in childhood then it could cau...
In examining the Freudian view of human development, the main characteristic of human development is one of a primitive and sexual nature. Freud defines the id as a unconscious part of the mind focused on the primitive self and is the source of the demands of basic needs. Freud explains that the mind of an infant consists only of the id, driving the basic needs for comfort, food, warmth, and love. In later stages of early development, as a child’s mind begins to grow, the ego is formed. The ego is defined as the connection between consciousness and reality that controls one’s thought and behavior. In late pre-school years a child begins to develop what is called a superego. At this stage values are internalized, and the complex connection between the id, ego, and supere...
“Psychological - or more strictly speaking, psychoanalytic -investigation shows that the deepest essence of human nature, which are similar in all men and which aim at the satisfaction of certain needs... [are] self-preservation, aggression, need for love, and the impulse to attain pleasure and avoid pain...” At its simplest form, this quote perfectly explains Sigmund Freud’s theory on human nature. Human beings, according to Freud, are in a constant state of conflict within themselves; trying to satisfy their animalistic instincts, while also maintaining a socially appropriate life. Freud termed these animalistic tendencies that we have, the Id. The Id is essentially our unconscious mind, it is the part of us that has been there since the day we were born and is what drives our life’s needs and desires. The Id simply aims to satisfy our sexual or aggressive urges immediately, without taking into account any further implications. On the other hand, Freud used the term, the Superego, to describe man’s conscience and sense of morality. It is the Superego’s job to keep the Id in check by combatting the desire to satisfy urges with the feeling of guilt or anxiety. Finally, the Ego, is the conscious representation of the constant battle between the Superego and the Id. It must work to satisfy human’s instinctual tendencies while taking into account their conscience and doing what is rational and acceptable. Freud argues that these internal process that are constantly at work in our mind are what shape humans to do the things that they do. Thus, he believes, the goal of human nature is to satisfy our basic aggressive and sexual desires while adhering to cultural and social standards.
From a Freudian perspective, human development is based on psychosexual theory (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development (Shaffer et al., 2010). It was Freud’s perspective that there are three components of personality (the id, ego, and superego) that become integrated into his five stage theoretical model. The id was the biological or drive component that is innate from birth. The sole purpose of the Id is satiate an individual’s internal drives (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). The ego is the conscious portion of our personality that mediates between our id and superego. Throughout development the ego reflects the child’s emerging ability to...
Freud’s psychosexual theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory are two very renowned developmental concepts. Erikson was persuaded by Freud’s ideas but he elaborated on the theory differently.
The theory does a good job at delineating the stages of psychosexual development; our childhood has a great influence on our personalities. Referring to Freud’s ‘psychosexual stages’, it is very clear that parents’ role in an infant’s life is the foremost step to structure the personality. Not to forget, the oral and anal stages are focal fundamental to character traits in a person’s behavior. The inner ‘instincts’ of sexuality and aggression meeting with the socially acceptable norms creates a conflict zone, wherein it is decided what we are to do and what we would become.