A person’s development largely depends on his or her personal qualities and brain capabilities. However, society and social agents that surround the child have a more significant role in the formation of personality. Antwone Fisher’s memoir Finding Fish provides a prime example of this influence, since the protagonist experiences many traumatic events throughout his childhood. This paper will study the various challenges and opportunities faced by the Finding Fish main character to identify ways for his counseling.
Antwone Fisher, the author and protagonist of the memoir, had a difficult childhood. His father died, and his mother served a prison sentence, so the boy was brought up in an orphanage. For the first two years, Antwone has a good caregiver, Mrs. Nellie Strange, and received tenderness and care from her (Fisher, 2001). In the early years of life, children from their attachment to parents and develop their understanding of the surrounding world (Malvik, 2020). Hence, these years were beneficial for the early development of Antwone’s intelligence and the acquisition of the first skills. Nevertheless, at the age of three years, the boy was adopted into the Pickett’s family, which was decisive in his life and led to many psychological problems.
In Pickett’s family, Antwone faced such institutional challenges as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, neglect, and racism. First, Antwone, like his foster siblings Dwight and Flo, was repeatedly physically and emotionally abused by Mrs. Pickett and her daughter Lizzie. The children were punished for even the smallest offenses; for example, when Antwone was caught while playing with the stove, Mrs. Pickett beat his hands with a flaming newspaper (Fisher, 2001). This display of cruelty also caused anger and aggression in children, which they showed in fights with each other, which later created Antwone a problem of uncontrollable aggression (Fisher, 2001). Thus, the first challenge that Antwone faced was physical abuse, which, unfortunately, is common in most societies.
At the same time, emotional abuse mattered even more to Antwone than physical violence, since it formed his insecurity and feelings of distrust towards people. Mrs. Pickett kept telling Antwone that he was worthless and lowered his self-esteem. Although Mr. Pickett was a priest, he also abused foster children and called them “niggas” (Fisher, 2001). Lizzie often made fun of Antwone for any reason, especially his skin color. The boy did not feel love and affection from his family because he never received praise or treats, and over time it began to seem to him that he did not deserve it.
Emotional abuse intensified after the arrival of Kieth, a boy with light skin and hair, since he was treated much better than other children. This fact also reveals another institutional challenge of racism. Mrs. Pickett called “niggas” only adopted children even before adopting Kieth, which carried a negative connotation; however, the white boy’s special treatment made it even more evident to Antwone that his skin color was a disadvantage. Fisher (2001) says, “The message I got from his special treatment was that being lighter-skinned made him better” (p. 70). This attitude only exacerbated the foster mother’s negligence for Antwone as she had never bought him toys or new clothes before, but now she focused on Kieth. This fact also contributed to Antwone’s lower self-esteem, the growth of his suppressed aggression, and distrust of people.
Another traumatic experience was the sexual abuse of Antwone by his babysitter Willenda. The first case of harassment when Willenda forced Antwone to undress in the basement happened when the boy was three years old (Fisher, 2001). The incidents of sexual violence were repeated and haunted Antwone in nightmares because he did not like it, and he understood that it was wrong. The likely consequences of this experience were increased shyness and fear of talking to girls; for example, Antwone had never shown his feelings for Freda for three years (Fish, 2001). Nonetheless, Antwone had a romantic attraction to girls and did not generally show aggressive or abusive traits in his relationships. On the one hand, this fact is good considering Antwone’s past, but on the other hand, it exists due to his insecurity and shyness. However, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse became significant challenges in Antwone’s life, which caused problems of self-esteem and self-identification, as well as uncontrolled aggression and repressed emotions.
Nevertheless, despite all the difficulties, Antwone’s life also had several positive features that affected his psychological state. First, the only thing that can be called positive in Picket’s family is that the adopted children were almost the same age and were treated the same, except Keith. Thus, although Antwone felt aloof and was forced to compete, he was not alone in his problems and had the opportunity to play with other children. The school also gave Antwone the chance to develop and feel needed because he was a smart and good student. A vital role in Antwone’s life was played by his teacher Mrs. Profit, who helped him discover his potential and become successful in his studies (Fisher, 2001). In addition, Antwone had friends at school and was popular, which allowed him in part to combat his shyness and low self-esteem.
Moreover, Antwone has several strengths that assist him in coping with difficulties. First, Antwone knows how to abstract from problems by creating his world, which allows him to survive abuse. For example, he invented a world in which people were nicer to him or dreamed of being accepted by another family (Fisher, 2001). This skill was a part of his resilience, which helped him not to break down under the pressure of problems. Antwone’s other strengths were his intelligence, persistence, and organization, which allowed him to be a good student, survive a period of homelessness, and succeed in the navy. Overall, Antwone had good communication skills and friends who help him go through difficult times at home. Simultaneously, the Pickett family did not have any strengths, since there was only abuse but not support. Thus, these strengths demonstrate that most of Antwone’s psychological problems are formed by external causes, while his personality traits help him resist them.
The period when Antwone needed counseling and received professional assistance relates to his service in the navy. This need arose after outbursts of anger followed by fights (Fisher, 2001). Thus, Antwone’s main problem was controlling aggression, as well as self-esteem, which was lowered after a long time of abuse and the last period of Antwone’s life on the street. The most appropriate therapies are constructionist and behavioral counseling. Behavioral counseling theory is based on the idea that problems arise when the environment encourages them, so a person needs to identify and prevent them (McAdams, n.d.). In addition, according to the study by Lee and DiGiuseppe (2018), behavioral therapy is one of the most effective methods of controlling anger as it allows the use of techniques to suppress it. The same situation is relevant for Antwone, since he cannot control his anger in difficult situations.
However, the main cause of anger is the repressed emotions it releases through aggression and fights. For this reason, it is also essential for Antwone to reveal his feelings and experiences that have accumulated throughout childhood. For this purpose, a counselor can use narrative therapy to push the client himself gradually talks about his feelings by reliving the events of his life (Metcalf, 2017). This therapy is part of a constructivist approach that seeks to redefine the client’s problematic constructs, and in Antwone’s case, it should focus on the identification of his personality and self-esteem (McAdams, n.d.). One can note confirmation of this approach’s effectiveness in the book’s text and the fact of its existence. Antwone said that by telling his story, he was able to “release my anger slowly, and constructively.” (Fisher, 2001, p. 284). In addition, the fact that Fisher wrote the book, entirely telling and living his story, and reaching all his dreams also shows the effectiveness of these approaches.
In conclusion, the life story of Antwone Fisher demonstrates that family and society play a critical role in shaping a personality and can create psychological problems that affect the whole life of a person. Overcoming these problems depends on the person’s understanding of these issues and desire to deal with them. Moreover, professional counseling is a way to eliminate or reduce these problems’ impact because it helps people learn to value themselves and the world in which they live.
References
Fisher, A. (2001). Finding Fish. HarperCollins Publishers.
Lee, A.H. & DiGiuseppe, R. (2018). Anger and aggression treatments: a review of meta-analyses. Current Opinion in Psychology, 19, 65-74.
Malvik, C. (2020). Early childhood development milestones: What you should know. Rasmussen College.
McAdams, C. (n.d.). Counseling theories and approaches. William and Mary School of Education.
Metcalf, L. (2017). Solution focused narrative therapy. Springer.