Oedipus

4 Pages 906 Words

Everyone has a family or at least knows a family, so everyone can relate to a story about family. “Regret, by Kate Chopin, and “My Oedipus Complex,” by Frank O’Connor, are two very different stories about the same thing – family. “Regret,” a tale about an older woman, who, never having married or had children, gets her first experience with them by taking care of her neighbor’s children for a short while, and “My Oedipus Complex,” a short story about a young boy who decides he is better suited to the affections of his mother than is his father, are two very different approaches to show the need for a complete family. The similarities between the two stories are easily appreciated. First, as I stated earlier, both of the stories are about families, and how the lack of, what most people consider, a “normal” and “complete” family causes problems. In “Regret,” Mamzelle Aurélie completely lacks a family; she has never married, has never had children, and has only had one marriage proposal, which was promptly rejected. Mamzelle Aurélie is not even properly a woman without a family; she much more resembles a man with her determination, man’s hat, army overcoat, and boots. Additionally, owning a farm, managing and employing people, and knowing how to use a gun are all traditionally men’s occupations (at least in the 1800’s). Certainly, she knows nothing about children and how to raise them, and that is the problem, at least on the surface. When presented with her neighbor’s children, Mamzelle Aurélie doesn’t know how to care for them. In “My Oedipus Complex”, we see another incomplete family. The father is away at war, and the mother and son, Larry, are alone for long periods. Thus, the son becomes overly attached to the mother, and sees himself as her spouse. Certainly, the son becomes jealous of the father when he returns, and tries to make him leave so he again can be alone with his mother. Ho...