Case Study for Harpo

Johnson
By Anthony Guzman
 Harpo Johnson- The backstory
African american man whose manhood is consistently questioned.
Harpo Johnson has throughout the book only
wanted to impress his father and show him that
he is a man. He has tried by beating women and
damning women to get the satisfaction of his
father. And what I have come to realize is that
this is more common than not for sons to do
anything for their fathers approval. As I did my
case study on Harpo I wanted to find out why,
why he needed his approval so bad.
The Real Problem
In the mind of Harpo Johnson and the reason behind his actions

Depression
Harpo Johnson is severely
saddened and depressed
man who has constantly been
put down and told that he is
not enough. The depression
truly showed when Sophia
left Harpo and Harpo began
to realize how alone he truly
is.
Father satisfaction
Syndrome
I created this new syndrome
specifically for Harpo because I
believe that Harpo doesnt have
some of the same problems as
some of the similar syndromes. But
what he does have is the lack of
self belief and the need to want to
be just like his father (who is not a
good human).
Solving the Problem

Step 1
Find him a therapist. There is multiple
sources that i have found that clearly show
that talking through your problems are the
best way to solve them. As the better health
channel states, “If you don't talk about your
problems, you may find your pent-up
tensions or feelings burst out in a way that is
embarrassing or inappropriate” (better health
channel). This proves that talking about you
feelings can solve many problems including
Harpos.
Step 2
Make amends. You have to confront you
skeletons that you have hidden away in the
closet to truly grow and become better.
Step 3
Using what you have learned and what you
know is wrong and right and applying it to
your life. Stop with the negative and move to
the positive
Takeaways
Some takeaways that I have from
this case study is that you have to
be true to who you are and not
what people want you to be, and
also having a fathers approval isn’t
always the best thing. And I feel that this is more common
than not and that it’s important that
people know about how its ok to not
be perfect and not to be who
everyone wants you to be but to be
yourself.
Work Cited
“Talking through Problems.” Better Health Channel, www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/talking-through-problems .

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple: a Novel. Penguin Books, 2019.