My Oedipus Complex

Originally published in 1963, “My Oedipus Complex” by Frank O’Connor is a short story set during the close of World War I with a young, unreliable narrator. The story explores themes of The Innocence of Children During Wartime, Maturity Through Compassion, and Possession Versus Love within a newly reunited family. Working quickly to set up the narrator’s rich inner conflict with his father that is at times at odds with the warm family life he is surrounded by, this story displays the efficiency of language exhibited by Frank O’Connor.

Focusing most of his stories in Ireland, Frank O’Connor, born Michael O’Donovan in 1903, grew up in Cork (Lennon, Dr. Hilary. “Frank O’Connor: Man of Letters.” Frank O’Connor Research Website, 2011). A self-educated man, O’Connor wrote and published in multiple languages, including Irish. O’Connor was not limited to short stories or collections. He wrote longer fiction, poetry, and stage plays, became the director of the Abbey Theatre, and wrote countless articles on political issues (Barnes, Julian. My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories, Penguin, 2005, p. viii). Writing at a time of steady European change, having published his debut in the 1930s, O’Connor was influenced by the Irish Literary Revival and pre-independence revolutionary nationalism (Lennon). “My Oedipus Complex” demonstrates the community he himself grew up in. O’Connor’s own father was also a soldier, and even when living outside of Ireland, he chose to set his stories there (Barnes viii). Besides his works of fiction, O’Connor doubly committed his career to his Irish identity through his work as a translator. As Irish writers both tested and moved into counter-revival attitudes, they examined complicated issues of national, religious, and inner identities. This guide refers to the version of the short story published in 2005 by Penguin in the collection My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories and is available for free on Internet Archive.

The story’s title “My Oedipus Complex” addresses the first-person limited perspective of the five-year-old Larry, the protagonist of O’Connor’s narrative. The narrator recalls the time during the war when his father was away as being, “the most peaceful period of my life” (12). This all changes when the war ends, and the Father, Mick, returns to the home and disrupts Larry and his mother’s routines. Meeting this stranger with animosity, the story follows Father’s reintegration into the family through Larry’s perceived slights and battles.

First, dismissing his father as a clear lesser priority for his mother, Larry lays the groundwork for conflict by loudly insisting upon his mother’s attention. Early on in the story, Larry revels in how much he enjoys his life. He declares for the reader, “I always woke with the first light and, with all the responsibilities of the previous day melted, feeling myself rather like the sun” (12). Most of his dramas are invented ones, and he chooses to imagine fictional dramas with his feet. Even in his imagination, there is little room for a father figure as both of his feet are named “Mrs Left and Mrs Right” (12). His only denied wish is for a baby, foreshadowing the second biggest change that happens within the quiet house.

When Larry comes into the “big bed,” as he refers to his parents’ bed, he is shocked by the arrival of his father. This visit is different from the ones he had before, as it becomes clear through his lack of uniform and Mother’s reaction, that Father is home to stay. Larry is quick to acknowledge the irony of getting exactly what he wished for. As Larry tests this new dynamic by subjecting Father to the same kind of interruptions and complaints he would use on others, new negative feelings for his father are brought to light. The things he dislikes are as simple as his mother “talking to Daddy” (14).

Larry’s inability to be physically comfortable in his parents’ spaces parallels the awkwardness of the new dynamic within the family. When Larry is unable to be quiet and allow Father to rest, he does not grasp the financial or personal reasons why this is important to his mother. Instead, his impatience is punished as he once again disrupts their sleep to try and get his mother’s attention. This backfires as his tantrum wakes his father, who threatens him and follows through with physical repercussions.

Larry’s competition for Mother’s affection becomes more hostile after this point, and Father is shown more deliberately interrupting the pair for unnecessary reasons (20). As the two escalate their rivalry, Larry tries to both imitate Father and appease Mother. This only causes more strife as Mother becomes distracted and unhappy with Larry when she becomes pregnant, and Father’s absence doesn’t solve the problem. When the unnamed Mother dismisses Larry’s concerns and dotes on the new baby, Sonny, it dawns on him that her affections will not be returning to normal. It is instead his father who turns to Larry, and the two become closer after Father overhears Larry complain that “If another bloody baby comes into this house, I’m going out” (21). The pair finally achieve a connection after Father retreats from the crying baby into Larry’s bed. The pair find a newfound maturity through learning compassion for one another, and Larry finds that sleeping next to his father is “very bony but better than nothing” (22).