Psychology - Review on "the Beaver"

A. Based on the story, describe the temperament and personality of the following characters:

A1. Walter Black

- Walter is a melancholic. Melancholics are known to be very creative and it is very evident in Walter. You can see how he came up with the new toy that helped his company be number 1 again. One negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of other issues. And this is what happened to Walter.

A2. Merideth Black

- Merideth is a Sanguine but also showed a part of her as a Choleric. Despite of the things that are happening to their family, she remains positive about her husband’s condition. She welcomed him whole-heartedly along with the Beaver. Like any other mother out there, she wanted what’s best for her family and showed much affection for them. But in the end, when she’s had enough of his husband’s delusional way of coping with his depression, she decided to walk away from him. She started deciding for her family and making that huge step away from her husband. She didn’t want her kids to see how their father was slowly losing it.

A3. Porter Black

- Porter is a Choleric. It was very evident when he was shouting at his Mom (Merideth) and asking her why he accepted Walter back in the house and he was being dictatorial of what should happen in their house. He had a sort of authority and wanted to go things on his way. He was task oriented and very determined not to be like his dad so he puts all of their similarities in post-it notes and tries not to do it. He can quickly find a solution to a problem, like when a guy told him that her grandmother knew that it wasn’t him who wrote the speech, but Porter didn’t want to get caught, so he tells him instantly not to tell his grandmother that it was him but he got it from this website. Also, part of being Choleric is the tendency of being depressed when they fail in something. When things in Porter’s life was starting to fall apart, not getting into college, thinking his father was going nuts and having a fight with the girl he loves, he started being depressed; being like his father. He started sleeping and sleeping.

A4. Henry Black

- Henry was a Phlegmatic. He’s always calm and always takes things easily. Like the incident when her Mom picked him up in school and he was asked how his day was and he said calmly that he was thrown in the dumpster. It’s not how a normal person would react to an incident like that. Most of us would probably be crying or getting all mad at the person who threw us.

A5. Norah

- Norah is a Melancholic. Melancholics are known to be engaged in highly creative activities such