Chapter 10
Emerging Adulthood: In Search of the Ideal
You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.
—Walt Disney
Erik Erikson’s life reads like a fairy tale. First, there’s the essential ingredient of a childhood fraught with challenge and strife. He was the product of an extramarital affair—in itself, a scandalous occurrence in the early twentieth century, but even more sordid when one considers the full backdrop. The affair commenced after Erikson’s mother left her husband, who had fled Germany because of allegations of fraud and criminal ties. Born into a broken home and destined never to know the identity of his biological father, Erikson lived most of his childhood as an outsider. At school, he was teased for being Jewish, at synagogue for being blonde and tall.
Next, any good fairy tale protagonist relentlessly chases a dream, despite the odds. Erikson’s natural artistic capabilities were denounced by his stepfather, who fancied a distinguished medical career for his adopted son. Instead, Erikson followed his creative pursuits and eventually found himself in Vienna, where a good friend suggested he share his artistic talents by teaching students at a local school. That school happened to be run by Dorothy Burlingham, a close friend of Anna Freud, daughter to famed psychoanalyst Sigmund. The Hietzing School, as it was called, held as its bedrock the psychoanalytic principles espoused by Freud at the time.
Of course, you can’t have a notable ...
