My Oedipus Complex study/ discussion guide

Why is the story told from a child-narrators point of view? What is the
impact of narrative voice on the story and on your response to the story?
Why do you think Frank OConnor prefers to integrate humor into the
story?
Make a comparison between Larrys image of himself, his father and his
mother at the beginning of the story and at the end of the story.
Discuss the symbolic significance of the war imagery in the story.
Discuss the symbolic significance of the enemy imagery in the story.
What is your understanding of the adult world in My Oedipus Complex
in relation to Larrys world?
In his depiction of Larrys relationship with his mother and father, discuss
how Frank OConnor manages to demonstrate the shifts in mood in his
story.
In relation to the following quotation from the story, discuss Larrys
perception of God: I began to think that God wasnt quite what he was
cracked up to be. (You can find other references to God in the story to
justify your view)
According to Kate Murphy (1990), there are two types of world in Frank
OConnors stories: the natural or normal worlds through which every
person successively progresses in the process of growing up, and a
number of unnatural worlds which the individual elects or in which he
arbitrarily finds himself (p. 313). Discuss Murphys argument in
relation to Frank OConnors My Oedipus Complex. [Suggested reading:
Grappling with the world By: Murphy, K.. Twentieth Century Literature,
Fall90, Vol. 36 Issue 3, pp. 310-343]
Comment on the following quotation: I could not help feeling sorry for
Father. I had been through it all myself, and even at that age I was
magnanimous.
What is the significance of the model railway at the end of the story?
According to Austrian physician Sigmund Freud, personality develops in
childhood through a number of stages, which can be called Freuds
Stages of Personality Development. Do some research to find out what
these stages are, at what age each stage occurs, what the
characteristics of each stage of personality development are, and how
fixation or lack of resolution in one stage will affect the child and lead to
behavioral disorders in his/her adult life.
Discuss to what extent Frank OConnors story fits Freuds theory of the
Oedipus complex.