Abstract

Abstract: Unlike animals and the vegetation whose behavior and maturity are believed to be innate, human beings take time to mature as they must be educated and trained. Any gap in the training process may be fatal to the progeny. Basil, the protagonist of one of the episodes of Gloria Naylor’s The Men of Brewster Place (1998), faces life-dismantling challenges in his young adulthood due to his mother’s deficient upbringing. This paper examines how lenient and negligent maternal parenting can affect the psychic, emotional, mental, and social development of a male child. Using the psychoanalytic approach, this study has found out that the mother’s responsibility in education is vital to male child’s successful maturing.

Keywords: Archetype, Collective Unconscious, Maturing, Guilt, Deficient Motherhood.