A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother

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A Boy’s Best Friend is His Mother Norman Bates, a character by Alfred Hitchcock in his movie Psycho, suffers from an affliction, The Oedipus Complex, which Sigmund Freud established under the five stages of psychosexual development. In this case, the continuance of the Oedipus Complex into adulthood stems from Bates not being allowed to grow past the Phallic Stage of this psychosexual development which involves emulation of the father. [1. Bates experienced the tragic death of his father as a child and was, therefore, stunted in his development, leaving the Phallic Stage of his growth unresolved. Freud’s work maintains that this Phallic Stage is crucial to personality development throughout childhood and in to adulthood.] [2. The Oedipus Complex is a boy’s desire for the exclusive love of his mother. In the later years of her life, Mrs. Bates went on to take a lover. This kept Bates from experiencing the exclusive love in which he sought from her. Mrs. Bates was incredibly abusive, which affected her son in such a way that he felt he had to do everything in order to gain her love and acceptance.] [3. Bates is described as a hermit and has obvious problems with his attraction to the women he meets. It is likely that his being stunted early in life led Bates to be stunted in the last two stages of psychosexual development as well. These stages involve peer groupings, sexual urges, gaining social skills and experiencing intimacy with others. ] It can be assumed that Norman Bates could have grown to individual had it not been for the tragic death of his father, and the obsessive tendencies of his At the age of 5 Norman Bates lost his father. This is a tragic thing for a child to go through; one must assume that a child of this age will suffer emotionally. Freud’s work under psychosexual
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