Shahriar
1. Discuss in detail about the “Mother and Son relationship” in the short story “My Oedipus Complex”.
In the story “My Oedipus Complex”, Frank O’ Connor writes about a little boy Larry and his relationship with his parents. The term “Oedipus complex” denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrates upon a child's desire to marry the parent of the opposite sex (males attracted to their mothers, and females attracted to their fathers). Sigmund Freud, who coined the term "Oedipus complex”, believed that the Oedipus complex is a desire for the parent in both males and females. So, the story is about Larry’s suppressed passion and attraction to his Mother.
The story begins in retrospection. The adult Larry remembers his idyllic and blissful early childhood at home with his mother while his father was away during World War I. He barely knew his Father but he was close to his Mother. Every morning he used to wake up early spend some time with himself and then went to his Mother’s bedroom to discuss his ideas to her. Larry, confident of his mother’s full attention, accompanied her throughout each day, prayed unfailingly for his father’s safe return, and urged his mother to brighten up the house by bringing home a baby. “Ours was the only house in the terrace without a new baby, and Mother said we couldn’t afford one till Father came back from the war because they cost seventeen and six. That showed how simple she was.” Larry’s attraction to his Mother is revealed anyway in allover the story. He described about her beauty, sensibility and simplicity several times.
This Edenic existence is abruptly lost when his father returns home from the war. “The war was the most peaceful period of my life.” This shows his love to Mother and hatred to Father. When his father was in the war he got to spend all the time with his Mother. But when suddenly his Father returned home from the war his delightful life was abrupt.
In the story “My Oedipus Complex”, Frank O’ Connor writes about a little boy Larry and his relationship with his parents. The term “Oedipus complex” denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrates upon a child's desire to marry the parent of the opposite sex (males attracted to their mothers, and females attracted to their fathers). Sigmund Freud, who coined the term "Oedipus complex”, believed that the Oedipus complex is a desire for the parent in both males and females. So, the story is about Larry’s suppressed passion and attraction to his Mother.
The story begins in retrospection. The adult Larry remembers his idyllic and blissful early childhood at home with his mother while his father was away during World War I. He barely knew his Father but he was close to his Mother. Every morning he used to wake up early spend some time with himself and then went to his Mother’s bedroom to discuss his ideas to her. Larry, confident of his mother’s full attention, accompanied her throughout each day, prayed unfailingly for his father’s safe return, and urged his mother to brighten up the house by bringing home a baby. “Ours was the only house in the terrace without a new baby, and Mother said we couldn’t afford one till Father came back from the war because they cost seventeen and six. That showed how simple she was.” Larry’s attraction to his Mother is revealed anyway in allover the story. He described about her beauty, sensibility and simplicity several times.
This Edenic existence is abruptly lost when his father returns home from the war. “The war was the most peaceful period of my life.” This shows his love to Mother and hatred to Father. When his father was in the war he got to spend all the time with his Mother. But when suddenly his Father returned home from the war his delightful life was abrupt.