Some analysis about Steve.
English is not my native language and I cannot guarantee that I am professional
Attachment Theory
Developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, attachment theory posits that early relationships with caregivers shape an individual's emotional bonds and sense of security (Bowlby, 1969). Caregivers, typically the mother or primary caretaker, provide psychological safety, enabling infants or children to confidently explore the world and return for comfort and support when needed. During this period, the mother serves as the child's primary "secure base," a primal instinct that persists into later life, extending to friends and loved ones in adulthood.
In Captain America, Steve Rogers' pre-serum life is depicted as frail, socially marginalized, and frequently bullied. His childhood friend, Bucky Barnes, emerges as Steve’s primary attachment figure, offering protection and affirmation. Scenes of Bucky shielding Steve from bullies and encouraging his resilience establish Bucky as a "secure base," a reliable source of safety that fosters exploration and resilience (Ainsworth, 1989). These early interactions cultivate a relatively secure attachment in Steve, characterized by trust and emotional reliance on Bucky. Notably, the model suggests early experiences shape enduring expectations of caregiver reliability.
Steve’s attachment deepens through shared trauma during World War II. In *Captain America: The First Avenger*, Bucky’s capture by Hydra and Steve’s rescue mission at Azzano solidify their mutual dependence. Bucky’s fall from the train, presumed fatal, triggers Steve’s grief response, aligning with Bowlby’s concept of "separation distress," where the loss of an attachment figure disrupts emotional equilibrium.
Steve’s initial reaction to Bucky’s fall—staring in disbelief at the spot where he vanished, later drinking alone in a bombed-out bar—signals acute separation distress, a hallmark of attachment loss (Bowlby, 1969). Bowlby’s theory outlines grief stages following attachment loss in childhood: protest, despair, and detachment. Steve’s protest phase manifests in his refusal to fully accept Bucky’s death, telling Peggy Carter, “I should’ve grabbed him” (Johnston & Markus, 2011), reflecting guilt and a desire to undo the loss. The despair phase is evident in his withdrawal and self-sacrificial act of crashing the Valkyrie into the Arctic, suggesting Bucky’s absence diminished Steve’s sense of purpose. Unlike typical detachment, Steve’s grief is interrupted by 70 years of cryogenic preservation, leaving him in an unresolved state of loss, later manifesting as chronic grief.
Steve’s subsequent self-sacrifice—crashing the Valkyrie—reflects an internalization of Bucky’s absence, as Steve’s identity is deeply tied to their shared past. In *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*, discovering Bucky alive but brainwashed reignites this attachment. Steve’s refusal to fight Bucky on the helicarrier, stating, “I’m with you to the end of the line,” reveals an enduring attachment bond, driven in part by a desire to restore the security Bucky once provided.
Erik Erikson’s theory of "identity formation" further explains Steve’s attachment. Erikson posits that identity develops through relationships and social experiences, particularly during crises. Steve’s pre-serum identity as a “little guy from Brooklyn” is inseparable from Bucky’s support. In Erikson’s eight-stage theory, the fifth stage (adolescence, ages 12–18) is critical, with the core conflict being *Identity vs. Role Confusion*. In *Civil War*, Steve’s defense of Bucky against Tony Stark and global authorities reflects an identity crisis: abandoning Bucky would betray the self that Bucky helped shape. Thus, Steve’s attachment is not only emotional but existential, anchoring his sense of continuity in a disorienting post-war world.
Existentialism
From an existentialist perspective, Steve’s attachment to Bucky aligns with Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of authenticity, which involves embracing the freedom and responsibility to define oneself (Sartre, 1943). Steve views Bucky as a touchstone for his authentic self—the Brooklyn kid fighting for justice, not America’s icon. In *The Winter Soldier*, despite Bucky’s transformation into the Winter Soldier, Steve recognizes him, reflecting a refusal to accept the “nothingness” of Bucky’s lost identity. Sartre’s notion of “existence precedes essence” asserts that humans first exist and then define their essence through choices and actions. Steve believes Bucky’s essence—his goodness—persists beneath Hydra’s conditioning, driving his actions. This is evident when Steve drops his shield, choosing vulnerability over combat to reach Bucky’s buried self.
Steve’s persistence also resonates with Martin Heidegger’s “being-toward-death,” which suggests confronting mortality sharpens one’s purpose (Heidegger, 1927). Bucky’s death and Steve’s near-death experiences (the Valkyrie crash, the helicarrier battle) bind them in a shared existential outlook. For Steve, Bucky represents a living link to a past intertwined with death and meaning. In *Civil War*, Steve’s fracturing of the Avengers to protect Bucky underscores this existential commitment, viewing Bucky not as a threat but as a symbol of life and values worth preserving.
Phenomenology
Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, emphasizing intersubjectivity and embodied perception, illuminates how Steve’s perception of Bucky shapes their bond (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). Steve’s view of Bucky is rooted in their shared lifeworld—a pre-war Brooklyn defined by loyalty and mutual care. In *The Winter Soldier*, Steve gazes at the masked Winter Soldier and pleads, “You know me,” an act of phenomenological recognition. Merleau-Ponty posits that the self is constituted through the presence of others: “I am not in front of my body, I am in it, or rather I am it.” The self emerges through interactions with others’ gazes, words, and actions. Steve’s embodied memories of Bucky—their shared past—override the Winter Soldier’s programming, evident in Bucky’s hesitation to kill him.
In Civil War, Steve and Bucky’s reunion in Bucharest further embodies this intersubjective dynamic. Despite global accusations, Steve refuses to see Bucky as a weapon, reflecting a phenomenological affirmation of Bucky’s living humanity. Their physical cooperation against authorities embodies a pre-reflective trust, what Merleau-Ponty describes as the fundamental “coexistence” of human connection. Thus, Steve’s attachment is not abstract but visceral, grounded in the bodily and emotional reality of their shared past.
“Phenomenological identity” refers to an understanding of identity from a phenomenological perspective, distinct from traditional psychological or sociological categorizations (e.g., gender or cultural identity). It focuses on how one experiences and confirms “I am me” through lived interactions with the world and others. For example, identifying as “a little guy from Brooklyn” is not a mere label but emerges through how Steve treats others, how they respond, and how he feels “this is me” in those interactions. For Merleau-Ponty, the body is the medium of world interaction, and relationships are rooted in shared bodily practices. For Steve and Bucky, their pre-war Brooklyn life and wartime camaraderie—marked by physical gestures like Bucky’s arm around Steve’s shoulder, fighting side by side, and trusting glances—are disrupted by Bucky’s fall, leaving Steve with an inner void.
In The First Avenger, Steve clutches a glass of liquor in a bar, unable to get drunk due to his super-soldier metabolism, embodying this loss. His enhanced body, unable to save Bucky, amplifies the pain of separation (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). This phenomenological trauma persists into *The Winter Soldier*. Steve’s body—running, punching bags until they burst—externalizes his inner pain, a futile attempt to reclaim the intersubjective rhythm shared with Bucky. Merleau-Ponty’s concept of “intercorporeality”—the co-constitution of selves through bodily presence—explains the significance of Steve’s reunion with Bucky. Seeing Bucky alive, even as the Winter Soldier, reawakens Steve’s embodied memories, expressed in his desperate plea, “You know me” (Wadlow & Markus, 2014). Thus, separation distress is not abstract but a disruption of Steve’s bodily being-in-the-world, a longing for the tactile and perceptual presence Bucky once provided.