George Bailey's Breakdown: an Empathizer's Perspective

Every year at Christmas I watch It's a Wonderful Life.  When I get to the part where George has his meltdown in front of his family after his uncle loses $8,000, I feel for the poor sap from the perspective of someone who also feels way too much pressure from too many places far too often.  George has a world of pressure on his shoulders, and the breakdown was long overdue.  Let's look at it more closely.

First, George wanted to see the world.  Night after night he would end up at the public library, reading about all the cool places he could visit, but God would have other plans for him to stick around Bedford Falls, the reasons to be illuminated in the next paragraph.

Second, George wanted his profession to be extraordinary.  His father Peter Baily was a saint for helping the town's citizens realize their dreams to become home owners instead of paying rent to Mr. Potter, the richest citizen in town and a man who has no soul.  When Peter dies, George's dreams of seeing the world and going to college go with it.  He does have the choice to leave, but if he did, the board of directors would close down the Bailey Building and Loan.  George has to save the day at the expense of his dreams.

Third, he made very little money.  On top of this, he is pressured to take a job for more money with Potter, in exchange for bulldozing the Building and Loan.  So in essence, he has to choose between his personal wealth and the health of the community, remembering his father's goals.  Potter may be referred to as the most important man in town because he is the richest, but I contend that since the whole town relies on George Bailey, this title should be conferred to him.  It begs the question: could I choose between the health of my family and the health of a town?  Nice parallel to the decision God had to make with Jesus by the way.

Fourth, he hates his house.  The night of his wedding day, after he gave out all his money to keep the town's citizens afloat until the bank reopens, he is called by his wife to come home.  He soon finds that she has selected the Old Granville House, the very house he says earlier on in that a ghost wouldn't want to live.  He will spend his time and money fixing up the "old drafty house." 

Fifth, his friends are all "successful."  Sam Wainright makes a fortune in plastics and his wife wears furs and they have a nice car, take vacations to exotic places, etc...essentially the life George could have had.  Sam even kids George about missing his opportunity.  That has to burn.

Finally, when Uncle Billy loses the $8,000 dollars on Christmas Eve, George finally implodes.  He goes home to his drafty, old house to a litter of kids, one of whom is sick.  Considering all my prior points, it's no surprise he bawls out his daughter's teacher, yells at his other kids, kicks stuff, gets rejected by Potter for a loan, is told the police are going to arrest him, ends up at the bar drunk, gets punched in the face by his daughter's teacher's husband, drives his car into a tree, grabs his life insurance policy, and heads for a bridge to jump. 

What does surprises me is that nobody saw it coming.