Psychological Investigation of John Lennon

Section I: Description of John Winston Lennon.

                John Winston Lennon was born October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England to Julia and Alphred Lennon.  (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) Lennon suffered the separation of his parents at the age of four. His father was a nautical merchant and was not present for Lennon’s birth and missed much of his early childhood. (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) He was sent to live with his Aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith when his parents separated. “Once Mimi Smith became John Lennon’s foster mother, she applied herself to this unwonted task with great zeal. ‘Never once in ten years did I cross that doorstep at night,’ She declared, contrasting herself implicitly with Julia, who, if the door were barred, would crawl out the window.” (Goldman, 1989) Lennon was raised by Smith as a son should. They were raising him to be a middle class citizen, even though the Smiths were not socially accepted in their middle-class community. (Goldman, 1989)

  Lennon’s mother remarried but still made time to visit Lennon and Smith regularly. Sometimes with a bloody nose and/or bruises from her second husband Bobby Dykins. John Lennon would later say “My mother came to see us (Smith and Lennon) in a black coat with her face bleeding. She’d been in some sort of accident. I couldn’t face it. I thought, ‘That’s my mother in there bleeding.’ I went out in the garden. I loved her, but I didn’t want to get involved. I suppose I was a moral Coward. I wanted to hide all my feelings.” (Goldman, 1989) John Lennon was often two-minded because of his mom being childish and his aunt being serious and caring. Julia Lennon bought her son his first guitar in 1957 and also coached him on how to play the banjo and piano, this sparked his passion for music. (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) Her teachings started to strengthen her and her son’s relationship.

Lennon was a trouble maker as a child. In his adolescence, Lennon drew explicit figures and the disabled. “John's school master thought that he could go to an art school for college, since he did not get good grades in school, but had artistic talent.” (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.)At the age of 17 he was devastated when his mother was hit by a car driven by an off-duty police officer. (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.)The death of his mother was the most traumatic experience of his young adulthood, and later he would commemorate her life with the song titled Julia.  

At his local church’s youth gathering, he met Paul Mcartney and formed what would be the most succesful songwriting duo in the history of music. A year later John Lennon, Paul Mcartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best would form what would be the early stages of the Beatles.  From there The Beatles took off both in the United States and the United Kingdom. They became pop icons. The allure of being a celebrity got to Lennon’s head. In one of his most controversial quotes he said in an interview with the London Evening Standard “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity. We're more popular than Jesus now. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary.” (Cleave, 2005)

John Lennon married Cynthia Powell on August 23, 1962 after discovering she was pregnant. (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) John Charles Julian Lennon was born April 8, 1963. The relationship between Powell and Lennon hit rock bottom when Lennon met Yoko Ono.  But he claims it was the excessant drug use. Powell  filed for a divorce after Ono was found to be pregnant with Lennon’s son.  Lennon abadoned his son Julian. John Ono Lennon II was never born, Ono had a miscarrage. Lennon and Ono married on March 20, 1969.

The Beatles disbanded in 1970 when Paul Mcartney quit because of Ono’s intrusion on the band. Shortly there after Lennon began his solo career.  Lennon moved to the U.S. with Ono in 1971 and were thretened to be deported. The government told the Lennon’s it was due to John’s past marijuana conviction, but it turned out to be because Lennons activism against the Vietnam War. (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) Sean Lennon was born on Ocober 9, 1975. “John decided to leave the music business to raise his son and become a house husband.” (John (Winston) Lennon Biography, n.d.) Lennon returned to what he loved to do in 1980 by releasing the album Double Fantasy, but was fatally shot down by a mentally unstable fan a few weeks after its release. John Winston Lennon died  on December 8, 1980 at the age of 40.

Section II: Analysis of John Winston Lennon.

                When I first saw the Beatles and John Lennon I thought that they looked very clean cut. They were wearing black suits and they were playing She Loves You on a VH1 documentary. I had heard of the band before, but had never really seen them.  Lennon was the front man, playing the guitar and singing. He had a very nice voice that was very distinctive. I also remember watching a couple of the Beatles’ movies like A Hard Day’s Night and Help!. John Lennon was hilarious, always cracking jokes and making puns. But, after diving into his personal life, I learned a lot more about him. Things that brought the true persona of John Lennon out,  things that ruined that clean cut image.

 After studying his life, John Lennon was a very childish person in my opinion. The celebrity status he attained at such a young age, I believe sparked it. But, also this stems from the traits passed on by his mother. His mother was very immature an irresponsible not only with him but with herself also. Lennon I believe was scarred at a young age by his father’s absence. This is one thing that attributed to the person that he was. But, also with his mother’s relationship with him being so frayed, he really didn’t have anyone except the Smiths. If it wasn’t for the Smiths, Lennon may have not been the person he turned out to be. He may not have been the legend that he was or remains to be. I think that like any traumatic experience, Lennon’s bumpy childhood consumed the rest of his life. Jelousy strained relationships and his flirtatious nature ruined a marriage.

Toward the latter part of his life Lennon improved his ways. He and Julian began talking, he had given music up for the time being to take care of Sean. His drug use had declined somewhat. I feel that Lennon finally got a wake up call. He finally saw what a responsiblilty raising a child was like. He took on that responsibility head on. Just putting all that focus from music onto Sean, shows that he wanted to be in his life. He had left that childish phase, he finally excepted responsibility. I know that he regretted abandoning Julian. But 1980 was a little late to begin talking to your now 17 year old son.  Now, is better than never however and I think it was a good choice to acknowledge him at least and attempt to catch up. I believe that John’s father not being there left a psychological imprint on him. Maybe that was the reason Lennon abandoned Julian.

It’s amazing to think a band like the Beatles was torn apart because of Yoko Ono. Lennon had become distant from the group and would often listen to Ono before one of his band mates. She seemed to have his life by the reigns and wasn’t going to loosen up for anybody. She wanted John to herself. I read that he even had them put a king-sized bed in the recording studio, so when Yoko was pregnant she could listen to them record their album. This really surprised me when I looked from his marriage with Cynthia Powell compared to his marriage with Ono. Maybe Lennon felt that by always having Ono around it would supress his jealousy.

Section III: Integration of the Psychological Investigation of John Winston Lennon.

                The object relations theory applies to John  Lennon with his relationship with his aunt, mother, and father. John Lennon’s relationship with his mother and father affected him later in life. His jealousy of the men that his mother brought home affected his relationship and marriage with Powell. Lennon had hit her one time for dancing with a fellow band mate. This also may be why he didn’t let Ono out of his sight. His unfaithfulness with Powell  displayed how his mother’s flirtatious ways had affected him. She had a profound influence on Lennon. The abandanment of Julian displays similar characteristics of how Lennon himself was abandoned by his mom. But also Mimi Smith, being Lennon’s main caregiver, had an influence on his later life. When Lennon gave up music to focus on raising baby Sean, it replicated the way Smith had put her life on hold to care for Lennon. Seeing the Smiths happy together I believed contributed to Ono and Lennon working out in the end. Smith really taught Lennon how to love by loving him. If Smith hadn’t been in the picture, Lennon may have never been able to settle down.

                Mischel’s cognitive theory applies to Lennon also. He was raised by Smith, who encouraged Lennon to chase his dreams and keep going even when times got tough. Lennon was introduced to music at an early age and from then on wanted to make it his profession. His goal was to become a rock-star.  Lennon knew that Smith cradled this and thus tried even harder. Lennon was often two-sided and would act differently in different situations. Being brought up by his aunt who was serious, and partly by his mother who was childish and immature,  those different sides of him came out in different situations. When Lennon would be interviewed with the Beatles he would usually take on the childish side because of the nature of the people around him. He would joke with the reporters and make snappy comebacks toward them in an attempt to get them to laugh and ease up. But later on, he would begin to take on the serious side with reporters. His life was becoming more serious and it called for the childish ways to cease.

Section IV: Conclusions

                In my psychological investigation of John Lennon I have learned many things about him. He was an amazing and accomplished musician but he also had problems. His life wasn’t perfect unlike many people think. It was a roller coaster full of up’s and down’s. In my eyes, Lennon was an ordinary person with ordinary problems that attained the spotlight for a great majority of his life. Celebrities aren’t perfect, no matter what everybody thinks. Lennon had his faults and his shortcomings.

                Now Sean Lennon is keeping the fire of his father’s torch alive and burning. He is becoming what John was to the world. Even Julian Lennon has no hard feelings toward his father. It is hard to dislike a man who stood for so much. John was a man of peace, and that’s what I admire most about his life. I look past the inperfections that he had and see a man that is full of love. He loved Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon with everything he had. He put his musical career aside,  and for a man like Lennon, that was a big step in the right direction. His past was bumpy and hard at times, but he rose up above that. From the childish pop-star in 1968 that was cheating on his wife and abandoning his son, to the loving father and husband in 1975. He finally realized what his priorities were.

                Being a musician myself, I have listened Lennon’s works throughout his musical career. Listening to the lyrics he wrote and decyphering what they meant. He poured himself out in his songs and each one that he wrote told a little story of a part of his life. From the hardships to the triumphs, from the good to the bad. From the death of his mother to the love of his life.That was his way of expressing himself. I commend him for what he accomplished in his life and in musical history. He was a man that changed the world.