Running wild in a cage, suffering from beauty, and alone in her popularity throughout her entire life, Norma Jean Mortenson had as much struggle as success. One may more easily recognize her by her later stage name, Marilyn Monroe. Her heart was silently yelling for help through her many roles on screen searching for approval and a stable happiness. Moving from guardian to guardian as a child, Marilyn felt as though her wild imagination was being held captive. This feeling of restraint continued when her physical attractiveness became the focus of her roles while her dream was to become a serious actress. Despite all the people in her life, Marilyn only had few she could count on. She tried to love others so she could love herself but it only worsened her loneliness. Through her inferiority complex, the psyches and the hierarchical needs model the theories of Alfred Adler, Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow uniquely and respectably explain the seemingly self-contradicting behaviour and personality of Norma Jean Baker and, ultimately, Marilyn Monroe. .
Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926 as Norma Jean Mortenson to Gladys Baker and a father she'd never know (Banner, 2012). She was born into a situation lacking the unity of family and as she would later admit, would always have trouble having somewhere to fit in (Monroe, 2010). The instability continued days after her birth. Gladys was unable to care for Norma due to her schizophrenia and paranoia, and let her friend Grace McGee take over. Grace did as much as she could, but she herself was not able to care for Norma and would move her to various foster homes, as well as under the care of her friends. This is where Norma's roller coaster ride began. .
After three months in a foster care, Norma moved to the home of the Bolender's and remained there for the first eight years of her life. There is much speculation of abuse, but whether or not it's an invented story of the media is unknown.
