feelings for Sam onto Mary Elizabeth in an attempt to make their relationship work, but was unsuccessful. Charlie was told to stay away from their group because Mary Elizabeth was very hurt by his actions (Chbosky, 2012). During this period of time the uncertainty and rejection brought forth Charlie’s feelings of sadness and loss following the death of his aunt. He tried to do anything he could to fix the situation, but he was continually rejected. This situation did not end until Charlie stepped in and punched the boys at school who were beating Patrick up for being a homosexual. He chose to defend his friend even though they had not spoken in weeks. Charlie did not have any recollection of the event because his rush of emotions had caused him to enter a disassociate state. Charlie was happy that he was accepted back into his group of friends, but he also recognized his loss of control over suppressing his emotions (Chbosky, 2012). Following Easter mass he began having more flashbacks from his aunt’s funeral. Charlie was unable to control this overflow of emotions. By the end of the school year Charlie felt more comfortable with his social identity. He demonstrated this when he raised his hand during English class to …show more content…
This disruption is caused because his “egocentrism, animism, and concentration” were disrupted when his aunt abused him. This happened during the ages of two to seven years old when these stages are pivotal in the formal operational stage where abstract thought is developed after eleven years old. According to Erikson, Charlie’s “identity v. role confusion [and] his intimacy v. isolation” (Crain, 2005) are negatively affected because of the mistrust Charlie experienced with his aunt early in his development. Charlie also appears to remain in Kohlberg’s conventional stage of development because during this stage “children follow in order to get approval from others” (Crain,