Title:
The Primordial Bond: Archetypes, Conflict, and Evolution of the Mother-Son Relationship in Cinema and Literature
- The Mother by Maxim Gorky
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
- The Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: The ancient Greek tragedy explores the destructive power of a mother-son relationship, as Oedipus unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: The novel examines the intricate bond between Amir and his mother, Sanaubar, set against the backdrop of war-torn Afghanistan.
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz: This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of Oscar, a young Dominican-American man, and his complex relationships with his mother, Trudy, and the cultural heritage that shapes him.
"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
: Through the character of Benjy Compson, Faulkner portrays a deeply intimate yet troubled relationship between Benjy and his sister, Caddy (who acts as a surrogate mother), and his actual mother, Dilsey. The narrative explores themes of love, loss, and the disintegration of the Compson family.
"Succession" (2018-2023):
Caroline Collingwood, mother of Kendall, Roman, and Shiv Roy, is the Livia Drusilla for the billionaire class. She is absent, sarcastic, and transactional. At her second wedding, she tells her son Kendall, "I should have had dogs." The sons, Kendall and Roman, spend their entire lives trying to earn a maternal love that was never available. The show’s thesis is that the mother’s emotional coldness is more damaging than the father’s active abuse (Logan Roy). You can fight a tyrant. You cannot fight an absence.
Cinema, with its capacity for close-ups and silences, brings a unique power to the mother-son relationship. A single tear rolling down a mother’s cheek, a son’s hand hesitating before a doorbell—these images bypass intellectual analysis and strike directly at the viscera.
High energy, dry shampoo, and a 5-year-old who has just discovered how to use the garden hose indoors. Sample Scene: