Ostwald's The Looking At The Gould Family

Glenn Gould was an extraordinary man with the natural talent to play a vast variety of pieces on the piano. Growing up Gould was a prodigy from the moment he began playing, he had the ability to learn music that even the best pianists at the time could not play. Everything he knew was taught by his mother, she was the one who showed him the ways to becoming a great pianist and how to live a very successful life. However, this successful life did not come so easy for Gould. He started developing anxiety to make sure he was the best which caused triggers for his mental health, the ability to build and keep relationships were very hard due to his condescending nature, and he let his fame and fortune get the best of him. In this autobiography “The

Within the deep layers of this family it was quite different, something an average family relationship would not look like. The relationship between Glenn and his mother was unusual for a mother son relationship, he would compete for his mother’s attention and he would get “anxiety, if not jealous” (Ostwald 50) when he did not receive the attention. He would take turns between his father to sleep with his mother (Ostwald 52). Even though Gould was scared of his mother he always wanted her attention. Gould needed that attention from his mother in turn, caused himself to lose touch with his “individuality” (Core Concept) in the future. He always aimed to “arouse [or] mystify her” (Ostwald 65) however his mother did not take compassion towards this, but tended to him by putting him down or disregarding his actions. This resulted in Gould striving to get approval from anyone, this is what allowed Gould to become as great as he was because he always made sure to perform better and better so he would not be forgotten. Goulds relationship with his father was incomparable with his mother. His father “did not approve” (Ostwald 51) of his piano days like his mother did. Goulds father wanted him to learn how to fish and hunt just like every boy had been taught how to do. The relationship took a change in direction when Goulds dog “Nick” (Ostwald 53) got hit

He had a fear of getting sick or hurt, however if something were to happen he often “focused on the upper portions of his body.. there was pain and tension is his arms and shoulders [and] he [often] had shortness of breath” (Ostwald 122). Gould was getting a lot of attention from a vast variety of doctors, he was moved from doctor to doctor assessing his physical and mental health. Gould had found a psychiatrist that was willing to help him, unfortunately Gould was in the highest peak of career and had signed deals with different companies. He tended to push meetings with the doctors so he could work on his music, which lead to more anxiety problems. If he made appointments they were very “impulsive” and he always needed to be in charge” (Ostwald 125). This control issue could be a sign of his mental illness, always needing to be control could also stem from how he was raised by his mother was similarly the same way. Going through life Gould turned to his own methods of therapy to help him. He began taking “sedatives to help him sleep” (Ostwald 29). He thought of himself as a self-proclaimed doctors because the drugs were helping him. After time, his mind and body began to deteriorate and they drugs stopped working for him. The pressure of constantly staying on top began to take a toll on Gould, he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the music world anymore. His body was getting