Jane_Eyre

Unavoidable Times; “My Oedipus Complex” “My Oedipus Complex” is a short story and a perfect reflection of the hard times faced by families post war. This story takes place after “the first war” which is assumed to be World War 1. Because of the war, Larry is not able to build a relationship with his father when he was a little kid. Then, when the father returns, Larry does not even understand that he is his father. Larry feels incredibly left out of his own family, which until recently only consisted of him and his mother. Larry faced extremely hard time early in life. Larry’s father’s absence and later troubles due to the war made Larry a victim of the war as well. Larry is having a hard time building normal relationship with his father because of his father’s absence during the war. For the first part of Larry’s life, he had a passive relationship with his father. He did not know anything about his father. “Father was in the army all through the war- the first war, I mean- so up to the age of 5 I never saw him much, and what I saw did not worry me…like Santa Claus, he came and went mysteriously” (O’Connor, 1). Larry barely even saw his father when he was a child. His father only came and went mysteriously. It was impossible for Larry to build a loving relationship. A father/son relationship is necessary for a child. Larry’s father was supposed to be his male role model and a positive influence. This was impossible because he was not around. Larry is excluded from the relationship necessary with a boy and his father purely because of the war. Even when Larry’s father returned, Larry was not used to his father’s presence in the household. Larry thought of his father as a stranger and an intruder rather than a mentor and a friend. Larry doesn’t even identify his father. “Every time I pointed out to her the waste of making up two beds when we could both sleep in one, she had told me it was healthier like that, and now here was this man, this stranger, sleeping with her without the least regard for her health!” (O’Conner, 4). Larry’s mother always told Larry they could not share a bed together. Larry cannot understand this and when his father gets the privilege of sleeping in the same bed as his mother, Larry calls his father a stranger. He calls his own father a stranger. His father has been missing for such a large portion of his life Larry doesn’t even understand that he is related to him. He thinks that he is just an intruder stealing his mother’s attention. This sad misunderstanding by Larry is not his fault. He is simply suffering from the effects of this time period. The war separated Larry from his father at an early age and now he doesn’t even know who his father is. Larry was a war victim of his own. Larry was a war victim just like his father. Larry was deprived of his boyhood relationship while his father suffered from the effects of the war. The father’s haunting memories from the war forced Larry to lose the best part of his day. The war forced Larry to lose the time spent in the early morning with his mother. Larry did not understand why he was not allowed into his parents’ room. “Because poor Daddy is worried and tired and he doesn’t sleep well,” (O’Connor, 4). Larry’s mother tried to explain to Larry why could not enter the room in the mornings without any success. Larry was too young to understand what was going on. Larry’s father was clearly suffering from some kind of a post war mental problem. The result of this was a feeling of neglect for Larry. As a little child, Larry felt unwanted by his family and was left alone in his frozen room in the mornings saying, “I didn’t feel in the least like the sun; instead, I was bored and so very, very cold! I simply long for the warmth and depth of the big featherbed” (O’Connor, 5). Larry was left by himself. He didn’t understand why he was not allowed into the big warm bed in the morning. This damaged Larry’s relationship with his mother as well as his father. The war and the hard times made Larry feel excluded from a family he didn’t even understand was his. He missed his mother and he blamed his father for everything. The effects of the war damaged the entire family. All of the problems the family faced were caused by the war. Larry’s feelings were not anybody in the family’s fault. They were the wars fault. They were all victims of their time period in which they were living. The conditions were unavoidable and this is why the family struggled. Larry had a hard start to his life and most likely would not have the ability to overcome the diversity faced early in his life.