Hey Arnold: Character Analysis

ARNOLD

On the outside, Arnold is a well adjusted kid. His parents were anthropologists and explorers of sorts, who died when he was born. Since then, he was sent to live with his grandparents who own a large home, where they rent out rooms.

His grandparents are both older, his grandpa having been in world war 2 would have been in his 80's. Although Grandpa Phil is fine now, due to his older age, he will continue to be able to move around less and less, and is sadly, nearing the end of his life. Because of this, his involvement in Arnold's life will become less and less. The likelihood of grandpa Phil making it to the point where Arnold turns 18 is less than likely, which will have a large impact on Arnold, due to the fact that Phil is the closest thing he has had to a father.

Living in the house with a group of people who has the possibility to change at any point would be very unsettling to a child. Ideally at this point in his life, he would have a home life that he knows he can count on. However, the residents of his household could move out at any point, and then he would have to get used to a new person. He is also exposed to the guests of the residents being in and out of the house.

With hope, his grandparents will have instilled the values he needs to be a well adjusted adult before he is left without a father figure at all.

HELGA

Helga is an aggressive child who treats those she really cares about poorly. Childhood aggression can usually be explained by home life. Helga's parents are completely uninvolved in Helga's life. Her older sister, Olga, is an over achiever and her parents consistently compare her to her sister. Because Helga feels she cannot become what Olga is, she compensates by being angry. Her mother is spacy and out of it. It can be suspected that she has some sort of addiction problem be it prescription medication or alcohol. She slurs her words and when she does speak it is usually wishy-washy. Because Olga was their first child, and his first daughter, Helga's father more than likely wanted Helga to be born a boy, which is why he treats her like a boy.

Her behavior shows signs of anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviors. She has developed a crush on Arnold. Due to her lack of control in her home life, she feels a lack of control with her feelings for Arnold and therefore pushes him away for fear that he will treat her the same way her father does. However, she is still obsessed with the idea of being with him, so to compensate she has built an idol of Arnold composed of things that he has touched, worn, and even gum that he has chewed. She locks her self in her room to perform these rituals and compulsions based around Arnold and the idol she has built.

When Helga gets older she will grow to separate from her mother due to her addictive and dependent tendencies. She will also grow to resent her father for not only comparing her to her older sister, but for also treating her as the son he never had. She will grow into a maladaptive adult with control issues who pushes away friends and relationships with men for fear they will repeat the same behavior her parents did.

HAROLD

Harold is another on of the children who takes to bullying the other kids. Not much of his home life is known. However, Harold also has an issue with childhood obesity. Both of his parents are also obese. Children learn from their parents and more than likely his parents are overeaters and encourage the same in their child.

Unhealthy food is often cheaper, and since Harold usually has no healthy food choices in his lunch and otherwise avoids healthy food, his family is more than likely poor. Being in a lower income bracket can often put stress upon a marriage. No doubt, Harold's parents have fargued numerous times based on money- arguments Harold may or may not have been witness to.

Harold's mother is usually the one seen giving Harold the junk food. Harold's mother is feeling guilty for Harold having witnessed these arguments, and due to her own uncomfortable feelings discussing the current situation with her son, she chooses to compensate by using food.

Because Harold has no genuine connection with his parents, he feel the need to assert his power on the other children to feel better. Because of this, he has no friends. Through his relationship with his mother, he has learned that food equals love, and therefore uses food to comfort himself.

As Harold grows into an adult, he will continue to have issues with weight and self esteem. He will continue to use food to comfort himself and will continue into possible food addiction if he does not seek some kind of behavioral therapy to understand and correct why he does what he does.

EUGENE

Eugene is a nervous wreck of a kid. He is continually bullied for his awkwardness. However, this behavior is a vicious cycle. He has bad luck anyways and is always getting hurt, losing things, and is thought to be the “class jinx.”

Even as a 9 year old, Eugene has learned to fear the world around him. He approaches things much more cautiously than other 9 year olds. Due to his continual exposure to bullying, he also has grown to mistrust other people.

What is at risk for, is developing paranoias and obsessive compulsive behavior revolving around his bad luck. He will continue to mistrust and be paranoid of other people, fearing that they will betray him and his trust. As his luck worsens, Eugene will begin to develop the strong urge to control the world around him and his extreme caution will turn to extreme rituals that he believe will stop his bad luck. When those fail, his rituals will worsen and worsen until he he seeks cognitive behavioral therapy.