Introduction
Various concepts are connected with adulthood development; three will be described: adult attachment, family care, and aging. Adult attachment refers to the concept of various relationship types, while family care involves caring for close ones. Aging is a process by which an organism’s functions decline, leading to various health issues in late adulthood. These themes are developed in Fredrik Backman’s novel A Man Called Ove, which describes a 59-year-old man with a complex character and deep grief, leading to his aggressive and irritating behavior. All three concepts can be applied to describe various processes described in the novel, and therefore, they are used as a source here.
Three Concepts of Adulthood Development
Adult Attachment and Linkages
Attachment is a connection that one forms with another person, typically becoming close to them. Examples in adulthood include romantic partners and close friends. Secure and insecure attachment styles can be distinguished, with two insecure types being avoidant and anxious, which can sometimes be combined (Santrock, 2021).
Secure attachment is characterized by positive attitudes toward oneself and a partner, a low level of stress, and a prioritization of long-term relationships. Insecure attachment styles are connected with anxiety and fear of losing a partner, and a person with a tendency to them usually hardly shows emotions and can have personality problems (Santrock, 2021). Their attitudes can change rapidly from strong love to avoidance and even hate.
Thus, establishing a healthy attachment is essential for ensuring positive communication and good relationships without negative emotions. Conversely, insecure attachment styles tend to ruin both partners, creating emotional tensions and exhausting them. A secure attachment style can help both partners solve their problems and recover after traumas, as they will feel safe (Santrock, 2021). In that way, once an insecure attachment style is indicated, it is crucial to change it to secure by working to achieve mutual trust and understanding.
Family Care
Family care is a concept of communication, mutual understanding, and help between family members and people closely related to them. Well-established family care improves the well-being of all family members, facilitating adulthood development and reducing negative emotions such as anxiety and despair. However, connecting with a family member can be challenging, as they can refuse to recognize their problems and even repel those who want to help. In the case of heavily ill patients, such as those with Alzheimer’s disease, intensive care can deteriorate the caregiver’s physical and psychological health (Santrock, 2021). Therefore, an essential aspect of caregiving is the ability to care for oneself, ensuring that there will not be any adverse effects.
Aging
Aging is difficult to accept, as it is connected with death, which is naturally feared and avoided. For that reason, aging people often have problems with mental health, such as depression and anxiety, which often twist their behavior (Santrock, 2021). If individuals cannot understand themselves and see the meaning of life, they feel intense emotional suffering (Santrock, 2021). Therefore, aging is a challenging but inevitable aspect of adult development. While medical advances, psychological help, and medical care can help cope with their challenges and should be applied, one must know and understand oneself to prevent despair.
Manifestation of the Concepts in A Man Called Ove
Adult Attachment: The Connection with a Grim Neighbor
Ove, the main hero of the novel, is a grim and even aggressive man who often shouts at people who behave in a way uncomfortable for him. As the story reveals, he is crushed by the death of his wife, Sonja, who has no will to live and wants to kill himself (Backman, 2014). He is a brilliant and correctly depicted example of an avoidant attachment style, characterized by a preference for emotional distance and self-reliance while having a large desire to be loved (Santrock, 2021).
Another example is his relationship with Parvaneh, his neighbor, who tries to be nice to him and help him. Initially, he tried to repel her but became enormously grateful. Therefore, the novel represents how insecure attachment can lead to severe personal problems and how it can be turned into a secure one by establishing mutual understanding.
Family Care: Taking Care of the Old and Ill People
The book shows how it can be challenging to help people who are depressed and compulsive. While Ove requires help, he is aggressive with people and seems to easily repel anyone from his life, including those who initially wanted to help him (Backman, 2014). It is a vulnerable older man who is deeply wounded but cannot share his sorrow with anyone and, thus, is full of negative emotions and feelings (Sandberg et al., 2022). In addition, family care is clearly shown when depicting how eagerly Ove cares for his wife, who has cancer and becomes paralyzed due to an accident. Unlike the two others, the novel is not focused on this aspect. Still, these examples are suitable for adulthood development, as they represent the challenges of family care.
Aging: The Hardships of Ove
The theme of aging is central to the book, as it shows Ove’s challenges due to his hard life experience, work retirement, and the closeness to death. It may seem that he is indifferent to death, as he tries to kill himself, but actually, he is in deep despair and requires help to cope with it (Backman, 2014). It is a typical example of vulnerable, lonely older men engaging in suicidal behavior, as they feel doomed and see no meaning in life (Sandberg et al., 2022). As mentioned, death is naturally feared, and if an older man cannot understand himself, he will suffer and probably engage in destructive behavior (Santrock, 2021). Thus, the novel correctly represents how the older man faces aging issues, such as losing the sense of life, depression, and deep despair, and becomes overwhelmed with them.
Conclusion
Therefore, concepts of adulthood development can be found in various books, and A Man Called Ove is one of them. The key aspects of adult development include attachment in adulthood, family caregiving, and aging. The reason is that they are connected with several fundamental aspects of human life: personality, connections with others, helping loved ones, and coping with aging issues.
The novel raises themes associated with adulthood development: grim consequences of aging, such as depression and destructive behavior, care issues, mutual understanding, and various attachment types. Examples are Parvaneh’s actions to help Ove with his grief and his attachment to his wife, Sonja. The latter is a sorrowful example of anxious-avoidant attachment: he was highly connected to her, being unable to accept her death and becoming extremely angry towards the world. In that way, the novel excellently illustrates how the adulthood development principles apply to life, which negative consequences may arise, and how they can be solved.
References
Backman, F. (2014). A man called Ove. Thorndike Press.
Sandberg, L. J., Lövgren, K., & Hearn, J. (2022). Bouncing off Ove: Old men’s readings of the novel A Man Called Ove as a cultural representation of aging masculinity. Journal of Aging Studies, 63, 101053. Web.
Santrock, J. (2021). Life-span development (18th ed.). McGraw Hill.