The objective of this thesis is to make a psychological analysis of the protagonist, Shouya Ishida, in director Naoko Yamada’s movie Koe no Katachi. 12-year-old Ishida bullies a deaf transfer student because he does not know how to communicate with her. At some point this goes too far, resulting in her transferring out again, leaving Ishida as the target of the bullying from his classmates. The now 17-year-old Ishida, remorseful and depressed, plans to take his own life. But after an encounter with the girl whom he once bullied, he has a change of heart and instead tries to repent for his actions. I studied how the bullying first began and how the effects of it impacted Ishida’s life later on. I also analysed his guilt, shame and uses of defence mechanisms. Finally, I investigated the act of forgiving oneself. This thesis concludes that defence mechanisms heavily influence Ishida’s actions, both as a child and as a teen. Additionally, how his guilt and shame play a large role in damaging his ability to form new relationships and forgive himself for his past actions.