The character Lewis Little from the book the way I Found Her by Rose Tremain has an oepdipal complex. First of all, he is geographically separated from his father, Hugh. Hugh stayed behind in England while Lewis and his mother went to England. While Lewis does have tender feeling for his father, he often times finds him pathetic and predictablke. "My mind started to wander, because thinking about the stupid hut oppressed me." Pg 42. He does not seem to have a lot of respect for his father.
Also, Lewis is emotionally separated from his mother. Lewis and his mother have trouble communicating, and each of them live in emotionally separate worlds. They do not invest emotionally in each other. "Look, I don't know Alice any more. And she doesn't know me. And that's just how it is, and it's always going to be like that." Pg 354. Like Oediups Rex, Lewis’s parents have in a sense abandoned him.
And so, Lewis tries to find a replacement for his mother, and he finds this replacement in Valentina Gravilovich. Valentina actually spends focussed time with Lewis. She visits him upstairs in his attic room, and helps him translate the famous French book. La Meulnes. She talks and listens to Lewis’s thoughts and concerns, and they laugh together. They are emotionally connected in a way that his real parents are not. Valentina acts more as a mother to Lewis than Alice. " 'Alice, Alice' said Valentina, still trying to soothe her, "Lewis has been alone all day . . ." Pg 94. Many times, Valentina treats him like a son. Even when they are both held hostage, she refers to him as a son she never had.
"I just said that I had better become....very fond of you, like you could be my own son, or something, the son
Alexis wanted and I never had, and that I had given you a musical box and was helping you with your translation
of Le Grand Meaulnes." Pg 306.
Even Alexis mockingly calls Valentina Lewis’s mother. " 'So you're afraid of the storm? You want your "mummy"?' 'Yes' " Pg 334. Valentina thinks about him often, and gives him gifts. Most importantly, she tells him the truth even if the truth is uncomfortable or too mature for him. For example, " 'So there you are, Lewis. One does not go through life without lovers. No one does. You will see.' " Pg 93. There is a strong mother-son bond between the two.
However, there is also a strong sexual attraction between the two which is predominant in the Oedipus Rex story. Like Oedipus Rex, Lewis also ends up having sex with his “mother”, Valentina.
"And so this, in my ghostly cell, where the light was seeping out as the moon moved away down the sky,
was what I did. And when Valentina understood what I was doing and what I felt, instead of turning away
from me or pretending to be shocked or insulted or that any of this was grange she just let me come into her,
and she held me and let me kiss her ear and her neck, where the blonde wisps of hair layer curled." Pg 341.
For almost the entire story, Lewis has frequent fantasies about having sex with Valentina, often these fantasies are very honest and graphic, almost to the point about it being uncomfortable for the reader. " 'You been doing voodoo in your bed?' " Pg 95. There is a mingling of mother-lover imagery that occurs often in the book. There is one particular scene in the book where Valentina is trying to find out about the relationship Lewis has with his mother Alice. Lewis becomes hysterical and acts out as a child. "I'd picked up a silver clothes brush and now I banded this down very hard on the dressing table and two of the perfume bottles fell over. 'I shouldn't have told you!' I said again. 'Forget it. Please forget it and don;t ask me about it anymore. And don't ask me about Alice!' " Pg 74. Lewis no longer sees Alice as his mother, and instead sees Valentina as both his mother and lover. Another example of this mother-lover connection occurs when Lewis sends Elroy through the pipe to Valentina. "I put him into the hole head first and helped him along the little tunnel by pushing his feet. As I felt him arrive on the other side and get pulled out by Valentina, I thought, I was right when I used to long to be as tiny as him." Pg 300. This scene is filled with metaphors. The toy obviously represents his childhood that he is offering to Valentina. The pipe is a sexual metaphor that foreshadows their future sexual encounter, and it is also a birth metaphor.
Also, Lewis is emotionally separated from his mother. Lewis and his mother have trouble communicating, and each of them live in emotionally separate worlds. They do not invest emotionally in each other. "Look, I don't know Alice any more. And she doesn't know me. And that's just how it is, and it's always going to be like that." Pg 354. Like Oediups Rex, Lewis’s parents have in a sense abandoned him.
And so, Lewis tries to find a replacement for his mother, and he finds this replacement in Valentina Gravilovich. Valentina actually spends focussed time with Lewis. She visits him upstairs in his attic room, and helps him translate the famous French book. La Meulnes. She talks and listens to Lewis’s thoughts and concerns, and they laugh together. They are emotionally connected in a way that his real parents are not. Valentina acts more as a mother to Lewis than Alice. " 'Alice, Alice' said Valentina, still trying to soothe her, "Lewis has been alone all day . . ." Pg 94. Many times, Valentina treats him like a son. Even when they are both held hostage, she refers to him as a son she never had.
"I just said that I had better become....very fond of you, like you could be my own son, or something, the son
Alexis wanted and I never had, and that I had given you a musical box and was helping you with your translation
of Le Grand Meaulnes." Pg 306.
Even Alexis mockingly calls Valentina Lewis’s mother. " 'So you're afraid of the storm? You want your "mummy"?' 'Yes' " Pg 334. Valentina thinks about him often, and gives him gifts. Most importantly, she tells him the truth even if the truth is uncomfortable or too mature for him. For example, " 'So there you are, Lewis. One does not go through life without lovers. No one does. You will see.' " Pg 93. There is a strong mother-son bond between the two.
However, there is also a strong sexual attraction between the two which is predominant in the Oedipus Rex story. Like Oedipus Rex, Lewis also ends up having sex with his “mother”, Valentina.
"And so this, in my ghostly cell, where the light was seeping out as the moon moved away down the sky,
was what I did. And when Valentina understood what I was doing and what I felt, instead of turning away
from me or pretending to be shocked or insulted or that any of this was grange she just let me come into her,
and she held me and let me kiss her ear and her neck, where the blonde wisps of hair layer curled." Pg 341.
For almost the entire story, Lewis has frequent fantasies about having sex with Valentina, often these fantasies are very honest and graphic, almost to the point about it being uncomfortable for the reader. " 'You been doing voodoo in your bed?' " Pg 95. There is a mingling of mother-lover imagery that occurs often in the book. There is one particular scene in the book where Valentina is trying to find out about the relationship Lewis has with his mother Alice. Lewis becomes hysterical and acts out as a child. "I'd picked up a silver clothes brush and now I banded this down very hard on the dressing table and two of the perfume bottles fell over. 'I shouldn't have told you!' I said again. 'Forget it. Please forget it and don;t ask me about it anymore. And don't ask me about Alice!' " Pg 74. Lewis no longer sees Alice as his mother, and instead sees Valentina as both his mother and lover. Another example of this mother-lover connection occurs when Lewis sends Elroy through the pipe to Valentina. "I put him into the hole head first and helped him along the little tunnel by pushing his feet. As I felt him arrive on the other side and get pulled out by Valentina, I thought, I was right when I used to long to be as tiny as him." Pg 300. This scene is filled with metaphors. The toy obviously represents his childhood that he is offering to Valentina. The pipe is a sexual metaphor that foreshadows their future sexual encounter, and it is also a birth metaphor.