THE STUNT MAN
A. THE TERM “OEDIPUS COMPLEX”
The Oedipus Complex which is used in Frank O’Connor’s short story title is a term
coined by Sigmund Freud to explain the origin of certain neuroses in childhood. It is defined
as a male child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of his mother. Appearing between
the ages of three and five, the child feels sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and
desires the death of the parent of the same sex (Wikipedia). Hatred for father and love for
mother is common element of the theory. Usually, boys see their fathers as a foe who tries to
bereave their mother. Mother and son relationship lives its peak while father and son are
challenging to each other. “The Oedipus Complex” in Freudian psychoanalysis is named
after the Greek mythical character Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father, Laius, and
marries his mother, Jocasta. Freud wrote of Oedipus in The Interpretation of Dreams:
“Here is one in whom these primeval wishes of childhood have been fulfilled, and we
shrink back from him with the whole force of the repression by which those wishes have
since that time been held down within us.” According to this statement we can understand
that the great tragedy of Sophocles was the basic example for Freud’s theory.
B. ANALYSIS OF “MY OEDIPUS COMPLEX”
In the short story called “My Oedipus Complex”, Frank O’Connor tries to draw a five
year old boy’s life and unconscious filled up with obsessions about his mother’s love and
care. The story deals with the life of Frank O’Connor and it is mostly like a confession which
has never been done before. The author adapts his childhood experiences and pain throughout
the story by using Larry as his “stunt man” which makes the story more real and vivid from
top to toe. In the story, the...