Symbiosis·Separation·Identification

Joyce Carol Oates (1938—) enjoys high prestige in American literary circle. Though she is a prolific writer, productivity alone does not make her significant; rather, the width, profundity and cogency of her perception earn her wide acclaim.Among the impressive oeuvre by Oates, mother-daughter relationship is at the core of Oates's intensive exploration of what it means to be a woman in contemporary America. In the relationship, neither the mother nor the daughter can be entirely a separate entity. The daughter is reliving the mother's story in her endeavor to distinguish herself as separate from mother and there is hope in the daughter's attempt to incorporate her mother into her own life. Although the incorporation assumes a variety of forms in her previous works, it is developed most graphically in her latest output Missing Mom (2005), which is a vivid rendering of how daughters achieve selfhood by identifying with mother after a series of struggles.Based on plenty of textual analysis, this paper ventures to explore the mother-daughter relationship in Missing Mom from a psychological feminist perspective, aiming at demonstrating the process for a daughter to experience the phases of symbiosis with, separation from and identification with mother before arriving at an independent self.In addition to introduction and conclusion, this thesis consists of three chapters. Introduction gives a brief survey of Oates's concern on mother-daughter bond in her works and the development of feminist consciousness in her literary creation as well as the critical views on Missing Mom. In contextualizing the mother-daughter relationship, this paper is indebted to psychoanalytic feminist arguments, of which the object relation theories of psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott and psychoanalytic feminist Nancy Chodorow are especially helpful.Chapter one mainly analyzes the importance of establishing symbiotic bond between mothers and daughters. On the one hand, the symbiotic bond possesses deep humanness and psychological profoundness that are of great significance to daughters'development. On the other hand, the symbiotic bond provides mothers with sense of self-satisfaction and self-realization that are the very need of an adult woman. The effects of daughters'dependence on mothers span vastly beyond infancy and explain some adult problems. In the novel, Gwen suffers the loss of her mother at a very early age and the symbiotic bond with mother is cut off mercilessly. Failure to enter into symbiotic relationship with mother in early years is a heavy blow to her psychological wellbeing. It not only affects the formation of her healthy personality but also has detrimental effects on her value on love and marriage, her searching for self-identity and even her mothering her own daughters.While lack of symbiosis with mothers exerts a formative influence on daughters, excessive dependence on mothers leads to the latter's difficulty in separating from the former, thus hinder the progress of an autonomous self. Chapter two focuses on the necessary stages where daughters are supposed to separate from mothers and rely on other"objects"as Chodorow has suggested. As the daughter grows, separation from her mother evolves into a need of psychological independence. In the novel, Clare's daughter Lilja is at an adolescent age and her pubertal rebellion requires a change of"Mother"Object. Moreover, in patriarchal culture, mothers are endowed with dual attributes—the conveyer of motherhood and the supporting role of patriarchal institution. In this regard, it conveys double significance for young daughters to separate from mothers: one is to step out of the institution of motherhood, and the other to free themselves from the patriarchal control.Chapter three dwells upon how daughters achieve the whole selves and female friendship by means of identifying with mothers after suffering a series of struggles in separation phase. Daughters are gradually aware of mothers'assistant role in their searching for self identity. Clare, as a daughter, frees herself from the shelter of maternal protection, resumes her career and finally achieves whole independence both in family and in society. Meanwhile, as a mother, she shows more understanding for mom Gwen and determines to act as a good enough mother to promote the self-sufficiency of her children. Nikki also tends to identify with her mother after moving back to mom's home and"rewalking"mother's way of life. She has undergone a remarkable transformation and has gained the independence and wisdom of a whole self. In the process of pursuing the independent selves, females are also allied with each other and establish female friendship. It is observed that daughters manage to achieve the whole selves on the premise of identifying with mothers.The above analysis brings the conclusion into light: Oates, who makes unremitting endeavor to demonstrate the gradual development of mother-daughter relationship, finds her best expression in her novel Missing Mom. According to Oates, to achieve the whole self, a daughter is supposed to undergo the phases of symbiosis with, separation from and identification with mother. Daughters'independent self is established on the foundation of identifying with mother, a new way of feminist consciousness construction.