The Mother and the Son Alexander Portnoy has given me great insight into his mental condition based on the lengthy account of his life. Focusing on the suicide of Ronald Nimkin, and Alex’s masturbation tendencies, it is safe to assume that his problems are related to his upbringing, particularly his mother’s influence on him.
Alex describes the continuous state of torment he was in due to his mother’s expectations. He explains the overwhelming embarrassment he felt when he could not remember the word “spatula” in English. This incident reminded him of another when he lived in Jersey City. A fifteen-year-old Jewish boy, Ronald Nimkin, was “swinging from the shower head with a note pinned to the dead young pianist’s short-sleeved shirt”(98)…show more content… Alex easily could have been the one swinging from the showerhead. His mother pressured him to excel in school, while Ronald’s parents pressured Ronald to excel in the piano. However, Alex was able to rebel in some aspects of his life, escaping the overwhelming amount of stress that led to Ronald’s suicide.
Despite how much he hates the expectations of his family, Alex is too scared to entirely break away from his Jewish heritage. He even broke up with his supposedly pregnant girlfriend, Kay Campbell, because she strongly refused to convert to Judaism when Alex joking proposed the idea. After the break up, he pretends like he never loved her, but it is clear that the religion issue was the dealbreaker for him.
This appears to be a case of prolonged cognitive dissonance. Alex cannot decide on his true identity and as a result switches between his desires to break free and to follow his parent’s ideals. This leads to excessive mental stress because he cannot possibly appease both sides of his desires…show more content… In his childhood, he showed possessiveness towards his mother. However, despite desiring his mother as a sexual partner, he hates the amount of power she holds over him. He glorifies the idea of a submissive woman, which is the complete opposite of what his mother is.
While this provides evidence to further my diagnosis of cognitive dissonance, Alex’s complex can reveal much about his attachment patterns. I believe his Oedipus Complex is somewhat unique as well. According to Freud’s speculations, the son should be scared of the father as a potential competitor, who will castrate the son if he finds out about the son’s intentions. However, Alex’s father is not a very impressive nor threatening man. It appears that Alex’s mother fills the role of both mother and father, which causes a lot of confusion in Alex because she doesn't adequately fulfill the role of
