Noboro and his Oedipus Complex

A detailed Summary of Noboro and his Oedipus Complex

The Sailor who Fell From Grace From the Sea written by Yukio Mishiama, portrays the Oedipus complex through the main character and shows all the steps along the way. Noboro, the main character, is a young boy who deals with growing up without a father, and then having to adjust to a father figure who comes into his life.

The Oedipus complex is a universal law that Sigmund Freud proposed. His experience in being a physiologist, medical doctor, and psychologist made him well known and considered the father of psychoanalysis. He was born in 1856 and died in 1939, and is said to be one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. On retrieving old memories from his childhood he proposed the Oedipus complex.

The Oedipus complex that Sigmund Freud believed in was about the early stages of one's life. For males, between the ages of two and three, every boy becomes his mother's lover in his dreams. He continues by saying that the boy's sexual interests are soon met with the risk of castration. After the threat, the boy becomes move involved with the father and trains to be an aggressive, dominant male.

For females the Oedipus complex is much different. At a young age she gives up the mother and turns to the father

For Noboro, his complex follows that of a male, and is created through many twists and turns. Growing up without a father, Noboro's dreams of being his mother's lover become very influential. "A large chest of drawers was built into the wall adjoining his mother's bedroom. He pulled out all the drawers, and as he was dumping their contents onto the floor he noticed a trickle of light spilling into one of the empty compartments of the chest" (Mishima pg.4). This quote describes the point when the boy discovers a secret peephole in his room, inside of a built-in chest. He then uses it to spy on Fusako, his mother, for the peephole reveals his mother's room.

As time goes by, the mother meets a sailor whose name is Ryuji Tsukazaki. He is the second mate a ship that came in to port. Ryuji is always moving port to port and his growing dislike for his job is shown in this quote, " He found himself in the strange predicament all sailors share: essentially he belonged neither to the land nor to the sea. Possibly a man who hates the land should dwell on shore forever. Alienation and the long voyages at sea will compel him once again to dream of it, torment him with the absurdity of longing for something that he loathes" (Mishima pg.16). He feels as though he has been at sea for a while and he wants to settle down soon. This will come into play later in the book.

When the boat comes to dock again, Fusako is reunited with Ryuji, the feeling between them become increasingly evident. He talks about staying around for awhile and even thinks about settling down. Noburo starts to become disoriented because the threat of castration is on the rise that can be seen in this quote, "Noboru! I'm surprised at you. Now why don't you stop being so impolite and show Mr. Tsukazaki your stamp album "(Mishima pg.104). He starts to believe his dreams of the mother and him are falling apart and that it is Ryuji's fault.

In conclus

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1302
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English