... with his father. At this point in the novel, the presence of an Oedipus complex in Paul is so patent that one can hardly consider it as a submerged theme. Looked at another way, a major theme of the book is the gradual awakening of Paul to the deadly effects of his Oedipal fixation on his mother. The penultimate chapter, tellingly called 'The Release,' shows how Paul comes to reverse ... the Oedipal desire to kill the father by administering an overdose to his mother. One could say that he has finally ... learnt to direct his anger outwards to its source. A weakness of the psychoanalyt...

• Word Count: 1244
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate