Amory’s Growth——A Case Study of Oedipus Complex

According to Freud,the formation and the dissolution of Oedipus complex are the natural processes of one’s psychosexual development.The growth of Amory Blaine chronicled in Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise can be a case in point.His formation of the complex is promoted by his mother’s exclusive love and the indifference of his father in his growth,while his dissolution of it is accompanied by his identification with the father figure Monsignor Darcy and his efforts to search for a suitable object of love with several women.All those are very important experiences for Amory’s psychological maturity.