Freud’s “Family Romances” – Conflict vs. Individuality (Blog)

Feud connects the liberation of an individual to being a norm in society that is achieved by someone in a normal state. This liberation occurs when this individual is no longer under the authority of their parents. The conflict, in which their is a disagreement / argument, occurs when the individual begins to compare his own parents with other parents. As a result of this the child begins to doubt the parents love and affection, and begins to become dissatisfied with certain things. This is because the the other parents may have a certain characteristic that may be superior the characteristic of the child’s parents. The idea of individuality comes into play when this individual decides that he or she needs a certain quality in order to be unique. Freud backs this idea when he says “…the whole progress of society rests upon the opposition between successive generations.” This essentially means that each generation has the urge to be unique in their own ways. In both examples of conflict and individuality we see that the individual is looking for better qualities from both society and the peers that surround them.