killing Lizards Essay

According to the Sigmund Freud, there is a stage in every human life called “The Phallic Stage”. During “The phallic stage” children become aware of their own and other bodies. At this stage, children also take course to learn the physical differences between male and female, and the gender differences, experiences that amplifies the psychological dynamics of the relationship between the child and the parents. Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a potential rival for their mother’s affection.
In this story, Gavin discreetly directs his sexual desire upon his mother, and directs jealousy and emotional rivalry against his father. What Gavin is going through is called “The Oedipus Complex”. The Oedipus Complex” is actually based on the Greek myth about Oedipus, who marries his mother after killing his father. Gavin expresses his frustrations towards his father by fantasizing him being killed and that is a clear sign of “The Oedipus Complex”. However, Gavin does not only want his father dead, but he also wants his sister, Amanda dead. His murderous fantasy is shown on (Page 2, l. 16-25)”He wished the plane that was bringing her out to Africa would crash and she would be killed” and… “His father and sister had died in a car crash and Gavin had to break the new to his mother”. These two quotes shows clearly how threatened Gavin feels towards his father and sister. The only thing Gavin eager is to get his mother all by himself but in reality, he knows he does not stand a chance against his stronger father, therefor he knows that he will lose to his father one day. The only thing Gavin can do is to let out his frustrations on somebody/ something that is weaker than he is. That is the reason behind him killing all these lizards, to gain control and feel stronger. It is also a symbol of his inner aggression. The urge to kill the lizards is duo to his dreams of his sister and father dying, because he does not have the strength to kill them. Gavin instead kills something weaker than he is. The title in this story is simply a metaphor for Gavin´s inner demon and the desire to gain control, power and the affection of his mother.
However, Gavin is not only competing against his father for his mother´s attention, but he is also competing against his teenage sister, Amanda. Gavin used to like Amanda until she became fifteenth. Amanda prefers to go shopping with her mother instead of playing with Gavin like the old times. Amanda receives more attention and affection from her mother than ever before, and that makes Gavin really dislike her. I wonder if Gavin´s mother really care about anybody but herself. Of Couse, we read that she shops with her daughter. However, just because the mother in this story shops with her daughter does not mean that she cares and love her. Moreover, what about Gavin? Does he receive any kind of affection from his mother? For example on (Page 3, l. 50-64)… “Yes, darling, what is it? She said without looking round”. That line indicates that she is too preoccupied focusing on herself rather than paying attention to her son. Even when Gavin asks her where she is going she says “Rehearsal, dear. For the play” and Gavin replied by saying he is going out too, but no response from her at all. Gavin´s mother does not even show the slightest interest in where her twelve- year-old son is going. However, Gavin and his mother is not the only ones in the family with a broken relationship. Both parents in this short story have many communication problems. It shows for example on (Page 4, l. 104-109)…” Gavin´s father looked thoughtful. “What´s your mother doing?” he asked his son and “Gavin replied sullenly, she´s going to her play rehearsal or something.”… “Today? Are you sure? His father asked, seemingly surprised”. That conversation shows that Gavin´s father have no idea where his wife is nor what she is doing. Gavin´s parents have properly slipped away from each other since they moved to Africa. Sometimes when you prioritize your carrier before your loved once you end up losing them. That is the case in this story. The father is focused on his job rather than spending time with his family. It sadly ends up with a disrupted family, not to mention his wife ends up cheating on him and Gavin even witnessed his mother’s dirty affair in front of his own eyes.
The ending of the story is In fact really interesting. When Gavin discoverers his mother´s secret affair. He finds two things. The first thing he finds is his mother´s sunglasses and the second thing he finds is the big lizard he´s been chasing. Could there be a connection between the mother and the big lizard? On the other hand, metaphorically speaking the big lizard is in fact a symbol of Gavin´s mother. All this time the big lizard that Gavin has been chasing was his own mother, and when he finally had the opportunity to kill it, he thinks of his mother and runs home.
Killing Lizards is a short story that follows a thin twelve-year-old boy named Gavin. The story starts in medias res, which means that the story opens up without any information about the situation or the characters. Unlike most traditional fairy tales in medias res is an artistic narrative technique of relating a story from the midpoint, rather than starting at beginning as most fairy tales do. The beginning also makes me want to know more about the current situation and the characters in the story. The overall themes in this story is male adolescence, family relationships, love, hate, and fantasy vs reality. The story takes place in Africa, and the story only takes place over one day. The story is told from a third person of point of view. I feel that the narration is one of the best things in this story. The narrator creates different of moods. The beginning of this story, there is a dark and sexual atmosphere. In the second part, the narrator creates a childish and innocent mood while Gavin and his friends are playing outside and killing lizards. The last part in the story gets dark and disturbing. Especially when Gavin says “OH MUMMY, I THINK I´VE FOUND YOUR SUNGGLASSES”… (Page 5, l. 157). The use of capital letters and the malicious tone in the narration makes me deeply wonder what evil plan Gavin has up in his sleeves.