foreclosure, and 3 negative identity. The attainment in dealing with this stage is indicated by the readiness of individuals to have larger interaction and
communication in their society. On the other hand, if adolescents fail to accomplish the basic strength in this stage and experience the problems in their
psychosocial moratorium, they will suffer from the role confusion. In this study, the researcher only observes one leading character that is
identified as a person named Charlie, who fails to achieve the sense of identity in his life. His unhealthy personality can be seen from his failure in handling the
problems in moratorium as mentioned previously. To scrutinize the research on Charlie related to his failure, the researcher separates this discussion into the
category below:
1. Identity Diffusion
Identity diffusion is the first conflict in psychosocial moratorium, which refers to the inability of individuals in figuring out a sense of identity. Erikson
1968: 171 mentions that identity diffusion is always accompanied by a acute upset, b the inability to concentrate, c the excessive self-awareness, and d the
inability to make a decision. All of the disruptions usually occur to adolescents who live in an insufficient family or an environment that does not give them
positive influences for their psychological development. As the consequence, individuals will lose their social play in the environment around them.
a. Acute upset
In the narrative, Charlie represents the life of adolescent who lives in an environment that does not fulfill his growth necessities and it leads him to
experience the failure in his psychosocial development. As a boy who has been indicated to be an adolescent, his first failure in achieving a sense of identity can
be seen when the feeling of acute upset often haunts him. Adolescents who suffer from identity diffusion will easily feel acute upset at every little thing that irritates
his feelings. It often appears when adolescents remember the awful event they once experienced. In this case, Charlie is easily drowned to the feeling of acute
upset because there are so many unpleasant memories of his life. As the consequence, Charlie’s life is either full of regret or full of sadness; he feels
unhappy with it.
It started yesterday at home. I dont like my birthday. I dont like it at all. I went shopping with my mom and sister, and my mom was in a bad mood
because of parking spaces and lines. And my sister was in a bad mood because she couldn’t buy her secret boy a present and hide it from Mom. She
would have to come back herself later.
Chbosky, 1999: 76 It is quite ridiculous when Charlie says that he hates his birthday very much.
Normally, adolescents will hold a big party to celebrate every special moment in life, especially birthday. However, it is different with Charlie since he does not
think that his birthday is special. Even gets deep down and sad when he notices that his birthday is coming up. The possible reason for Charlie to hate his birthday
is because he has unexpected memories of his birthday that make him really regret it. In Charlie’s case, he always remembers the death of his Aunt because of a
terrible car accident that happens at night before his family celebrate his birthday.
Individuals who cannot deal with their horrible memories in the past will find it difficult to face the next phase of life that may involve a more complex problem.
It resembles the epigenetic principle of Erikson, who believes that human development occurs throughout the lifespan, so that how individuals deal with the
past will influence the way they face the next task in the next phase of life. The feeling of acute upset also results in anxiety toward Charlie’s sense of
identity. Charlie’s anxiety never sets him free to share with others. He always feels insecure to introduce himself to someone new. It can be seen when he tries
to hide his identity from the one he sends his letters. “Please dont try to figure out
who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really dont want you to do that Chbosky, 1999: 2.” This expression indicates that Charlie
conceals his identity to a person he writes the letters for because he realizes that the letters contain his secrets and those are all the shame for him. He never shares
his problem with people around him, but he speaks everything in the letters to relieve his pain. He really worries that anyone gives him bad remark and cannot
accept him as the way he is after knowing the truth about him who may be perceived as weird and unusual in his society. It portrays that most adolescents
feel worried that all of their weirdness will make them fail to integrate with the society. One thing that becomes the hindrance for adolescents to fit in the society
is the fear of the failure itself. Moreover, it just makes the condition worse. b.
Inability to Concentrate Charlie’s acute upset and anxiety lead him to the inability to concentrate.
Every time he feels anxious, his mind suddenly sweeps away somewhere, thus he
