Preview

My Oedipus Complex Research Paper

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1038 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
My Oedipus Complex Research Paper
According to Webster 's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, the phrase "Oedipus complex" is defined as: "the positive libidinal feelings that a child develops toward the parent of the opposite sex and that when unresolved are conceived as a source of adult personality disorder." The title of this story is said to have received its name based on two things - primarily on the Greek Oedipus, who was a renowned character in Greek mythology. Secondly, it is based on the bizarre and interesting theory of Oedipus complex established by psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. This title also relates to past experiences familiar to O 'Connor himself. Often times, authors associate their ideas and narratives with certain situations and experiences they have encountered in their lifetimes. Frank O 'Connor is certainly one of those authors. This strategy helps to shape characters and enhance plot, therefore creating a theme that captures the reader 's attention. In the short story "My Oedipus Complex," O ' Connor uses the character Larry to represent his experiences as a young boy and relay the main theme and story 's title to the reader.

Frank O ' Connor was born as Michael O 'Donovan in Cork, Ireland in 1903. His family was poor and consistently faced problems with exceeding their credit limit. O 'Connor 's father, Michael, was a cruel drunk who mistreated O 'Connor 's mother, Minnie. Michael could not stand the fact that O 'Connor would rather sit at home and read a book instead of playfully fight with the boys on the street. As a result, Michael criticized his son, calling him a sissy and wimp. These degrading comments weakened O 'Connor 's self esteem, which often led him to seek comfort from his mother. Eventually, O 'Connor became a stereotypical "mamma 's boy" and began to idolize his mother. Throughout his life, O 'Connor struggled through many tough times, always arguing with his father. This theme of father-son rivalry also appears in "My Oedipus Complex."



Cited: Books 1.)         Freeman, Lucy, and Dr. Herbert S. Strean. Freud and Women. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1981. 2.)         Davis, Robert Gorham. Ten Modern Masters. USA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1953. Articles 1.)         Neary, Michael. " Studies in Short Fiction, The Inside-out World in Frank O 'Connor 's Stories." Infotrac 1993: 8 pages. Websites 1.)         Kobus, Veronica C. "My Oedipus Complex, An Analysis." My Oedipus Complex. 11 May 2004. Available http://www.wiu.edu/users/muvck/GH101pg1.htm.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Complex Analysis

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Freud’s theory on the Oedipus complex is that it is the childhood desire to sleep with the mother and kill the father. He says that in Sophocles’ play, Oedipus exhibits a stages in which the child desires the mother because of the connection through birth and infancy, and resents (even desires the murder of) the father. According to Freud, boys…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Marusa And Winston

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Usually the Oedipus complex is when a child has the desire to sexually possess the parent of the opposite sex, where males are attracted to their mothers and females are attracted to their fathers, but it can also sometimes be substituted with other things. It doesn’t always have to be sexually possessive urges and it also doesn’t also have to be parents. Sometimes, it can even be objects. Some examples are Marusa in “Head Cook at Weddings and Funerals”, and Winston Smith in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Oedipus complex, Freud believed that everyone suffered a dramatic trauma which was the Oedipus complex. This is when a boy at the age of six would have sexual desires for his mother and wants to kill his father, in jealousy. The suckling child was used to having its mother’s attention, where the libido is…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Jar Analysis

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This alludes to the Oedipus complex, a concept central to the psychoanalytic theory that explains the unconscious desire of a child for a sexual relationship with the parent of the opposite sex and the rivalry with the same sex parent ensues…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout literature there is a theme that seems to be constant, the protagonist against the antagonist, good versus evil. It is a theme that reoccurs throughout time because it provides the audience with an interesting conflict and reveals more about the true nature of humans. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” she exposes her audience to the veracity of human nature; through various rhetorical devices and the demeanor of her characters, O’Connor reveals a new perspective on good versus evil.…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bryant depicts a few details to help with the foreshadowing of the story. Hallman describes O’Connor’s careful writing, from choosing the locations to the distances related to the time.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Achilles In The Odyssey

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Once Oedipus is a grown man he kills his father, Laius, without knowledge of his father’s identity. Then he marries the king’s wife, Jocasta, which is his mother. Hence the term the Oedipus Complex arises. Once his mother comes to the conclusion that Oedipus is her son, she then kills their children and herself. Oedipus sees that his mother and lover has killed herself, he gauges out his eyes so that he doesn’t have to see his sins, and to remind him of the wrongs he had done.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sandra Gilbert Gender

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to you, Oedipus complex manifests itself at the age of five. You say that the Oedipus complex is where a boy unconsciously is fighting for the love of his mother with his father. We could simply say that Ophelia that since her mother is not in the picture Ophelia does not have to fight for the love of her father, because she already has it. This makes his death send her into a depression. Shakespeare uses madwomen Ophelia to show Hamlet as the hero of the…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What makes Oedipus so relatable, is the unavoidable uncertainty of life. The story begins with a man who has been told by Gods that no matter what, he will kill his father and marry his mother (x). He then goes into battle, killing a man, and then he returns home to his wife. Later in the story, it is revealed that Oedipus did not grow up with his biological parents, something Oedipus seemingly never considered. Soon after, his wife finds out and simultaneously discovers that her husband was given the exact prophecy as an infant as her late son was, and then was never seen by his parents. Appalled after putting this knowledge together, she exits quickly…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oedipus Complex in Hamlet

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s personality can be explained by the Oedipus Complex. Throughout the play there are many times where he proves that he has Oedipus Complex. Oedipus Complex was not around at the time that that Hamlet was written. It just shows that Shakespeare saw the same personality complex’ as Freud. Freud first named the Oedipus Complex Theory in his book , An Interpretation of Dreams, in 1899. Freud states "The child takes both of its parents, and more particularly one of them, as the object of its erotic wishes." Freud explains that it is normal to have sexual desires for the parent of the opposite sex. These are normal in children and usually dissipate after the age of five. When these sexual desires do not go away and they continue into adulthood this is when someone would be considered to have an Oedipus Complex.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oedipus complex is an idea created by Freud with name coming from Greek mythology where Oedipus, an unsuspecting young man, kills his father and marries his mother. Upon discovering this information, he gouges his eyes out in horror and becomes blind. Freud explains Oedipus complex can be defined when a boy child want to possess his mother, in process, get rid of his father.…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Oedipus The King

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout the play Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles I, readers notice that identification of characters is crucial. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is the King of Thebes when a plague is brought upon his community. He sends Creon, his brother-in-law, to identify the origin of the plague. In doing so, he discovers that the reason is because a murder has been committed that has befouled the community. Creon discovers that the Old King, Laius, has been murdered and Oedipus wants to know who committed this crime. Oedipus goes to Tiresias to acquire further knowledge and Oedipus then realizes that chances are, he committed the murder. The challenge is discovering Oedipus’ origin to decipher if this really was his fate. Because the story of Oedipus the King is undefined, there are many criticisms and interpretations of Sophocles’ story. I believe Kurt Fasso’s criticism…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    no, a single word

    • 14400 Words
    • 58 Pages

    "My Oedipus Complex" is the story of a young boy named Larry who is forced to confront issues of jealousy and confusion. Larry is forced to confront these issues when his father, who he does not know that well, comes home from the war. The "Oedipus Complex" is a term coined by Sigmund Freud in which a male develops an excessive love for his mother usually accompanied by a hatred for his father. This is extremely evident throughout the story.…

    • 14400 Words
    • 58 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    larry analysize

    • 2402 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Analysis The Character Larry In The Short Story “My Oedipus Complex” By Frank O’Connor My Oedipus Complex is a short story of Frank O’Connor about a little boy – the main character Larry – who told about his relationship and his complicated feelings around the relationship in family. One important technique that made the readers have a closer look to this character was the technique of narration. In the story, the narrator was the main character, a five year- old boy; therefore; every event was told under the boy’s eyes. Through that, the character of Larry was depicted clearly. He was not a boy didn’t know anything but he also didn’t know all, he loved the person take care him and he fight against the person take place him in his mother’s love and attention. In order to have close look to this character, first of all, we should discuss about “the most peaceful period” in his life which was the time before the coming back of his father from the First World War. With this child, he didn’t know about the awful of war. He also didn’t know the important of father in family, lack of father in the early life is the unlucky with any child, but he didn’t know about that. The reason is that he was too young, the war took his father up to the age of 5 year olds and in the wartime, every man must go to war so he couldn’t see the role of father in other families. The memories of him about his father was few, he found that his father liked Santa Clause. This comparison can make readers surprising; however, it’ was rather true because father “came and went mysteriously”. The readers may smile in the first moment reading it but after that, they would be sympathy with the boy’s situation.…

    • 2402 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the short story, My Oedipus Complex, Frank O'Connor writes of a young child who is forced to deal with issues of confusion and jealousy through a first person point of view. Through O'Connor's elements of facetiousness and truth, he explains how such issues create a sort of ironic domins effect and, in this case can actually bring people closer together. In the beginning, the young boy displays signs of excitement and contentment when his father arrives unexpectedly on his visits from the war. His "pleasant musty smell" and "Santa Claus entrances and exits" intrigue him. As long as his daily routines are uninterrupted, he remains in a state of appeasement. The juvinile knows nothing of the problems the mother and father are facing. He is confined to a world all his own. If the point of view were changed in such a situation, then the father may tell of how naive and innocentthe child is or how oblivios he is to what a horrible condition they are faced with. The plot would change drastically. If the point of view were changed to the third person objective, or dramatic point of view, then the readers would assume their own emotion which would absolutely change the tone of this short story. Other elements such as theme could also be altered if this was seen in third person. The child's feeling of hostility toward his father could only be seen through this example first person point of…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays