Freud’s excerpt on family romances was certainly an interesting read. Although I do not completely agree with his thinking, there are certain aspects that I find coherent. Childhood development owes itself to many influences, and to an extent, children are reflections of their parents. A child is like a sponge, they learn through observation. By observing the actions of their parents, they gradually wish to be just like them. However, as a child develops intellectually and surrounds themselves with others, they cannot help but compare their parents with other parents. I remember there was a time I overheard a child’s interaction with his parents at a store. The child asked his parents to buy him a toy, and when they said no, the child then said something along the lines of: “But xx’s parents bought him a toy when he asked for it.” The child would not take no for an answer, and compares the situation to the parents of others to support his argument. On a weaker scale, this may be an example of Freud’s idea that the “small events in the child’s life” causes them to compare the qualities and abilities of their parents over others (237).

According to Freud, neurotic children who were once punished for “sexual naughtiness” are more inclined to fantasize over fictitious stories portraying himself as a protagonist while eliminating the characters of his siblings due to their atrocious nature. By using his imagination, the young child can hide any incestuous relationship with his sister if he is ever sexually attracted to her and even creating a love-affair with his mother (239). This is the child’s way of retaliating the punishment. In today’s society, quite frequently do I see news articles on cases involving sex crimes and incest relations. I cannot help but wonder whether or not this is because of the actions of parents that causes young children to behave this way.

Although I did not personally find Freud’s concept of family romance useful in understanding my own family relations, I think I was able to understand his theory holistically.