Essay On Dysfunctional Relationships

Dysfunctional relationships are everywhere, whether they be between family members or friends. They lead to a falling out most of the time when one person snaps. In Sons and Lovers, Paul finally snaps and ends up killing his mother even though they had a intimate relationship. In Of Human Bondage, Philip in unsettled and is uncertain about his career. With his financial situation going downhill, he lets himself be controlled by his uncle and his friends. They both are trapped in situations in which there is no escape, until they make their way out of the circumstance.Dysfunctional relationships are shown in when Paul Morel, like Oedipus, develops feelings for his mother, ruining his relationship with others; Philip’s relationships are ruined because he feels as if he is not good …show more content…
He forms a relationship with Miriam but because his mother does not like her, he leaves her. He does the same with Clara Dawes. Paul does not realize this, but his feelings for his mother have gotten so intense, that whenever he goes to find a lady, he searches for his mother in her. And even then, he is not satisfied. When Mrs.Morel becomes sick and is on her deathbed, Paul is eager for her to die because he feels as if she has bound him. He does not realize that he has bound himself to her as well. When he gives her an overdose of her medication, he feels happy and he and Annie “both laughed together like two conspiring children.” (375). After she is dead, Paul is free from her, but is still bound to memories of her and finds that “He could not paint” (390). Like Oedipus, Paul despises his father and prays to the Lord to “let my father die” (58). He gets jealous of his father and even tells his mother not to “sleep with him, mother.” (205) Kubal says that Paul has “murderous feelings toward his father and his erotic attraction to his mother.” and they are caused by the lack of his father’s influence and his