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Summary Of Genie's 'Secret Of The Wild Child'

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“Secret of the Wild Child” is about the experiences and development of a child that was in solitary confinement for thirteen years. Genie was the name they pinned on the child due to the similarities of being kept in isolation, then suddenly brought out to human society. During the first few months of life, children need to be exposed to other humans who will care and love for them because this creates a set of ideas and attitudes about who they are as independent beings (Brym et al. 2015,96). Genie’s isolation raised the question whether it was too late for her self image to emerge. Genie developed her sense of self out of solitary confinement due to symbolic interactionism, her existing personal conscience, and the growth of the objective component of her self image. Genie was kept in her room restrained to a chair and had no one to talk to. According to Cooley, self is constructed through how we think others view us (Wilmott, 2018). Due to the lack of social interaction for thirteen years, Genie barely received any reactions for her to evaluate. However, once she was rescued and placed in a children’s hospital, numerous positive reactions encouraged Genie to develop a self image. On one occasion Genie was playing with a helium balloon, and she was fascinated with its nature of floating up. She laughed her out and the people around her laughed along with her. This encouraged Genie to express her feelings more. Furthermore, she received delightful reactions whenever she

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