Reading O’Connor’s My Oedipus Complex

Abstract

Frank O’Connor (1903-1966) displays with deep acuteness, subtle irony and much humor the conflicts of the world of children in “My Oedipus Complex”, the title of which illustrates the theme and is repeatedly used as a leitmotif in almost all of the episodes. Five-year old Larry, the main character in the story, comes up against difficult situations, on account of his fantasies and narcissism, when his father/rival comes back home from the First World War. This is when his Oedipus complex comes to the fore. If, on the one hand, the father’s homecoming is responsible for Larry’s isolation and anguish by bringing out his obsessive love for his mother, on the other hand, the birth of a younger brother exacerbates his frustration and jealousy, and, in the process, reveals the ambivalence of his feelings. However, it is precisely because of his younger brother that Larry overcomes the Oedipian stage of the triangle upon identifying himself with the mirror image of his father. This image reflects itself in several mirrors, including those which represent the Other, his mother, his father, and his brother. These reflections come together so that the union of the family is re-established.