The Duality of Love

From the readings of Freud I have come to realize the duality of love. The first type of love is the pure physical and chemical love that our animal instincts crave. It is this type of love that leads to procreation not only for humans but all creatures. Then there is other type of love, a family love, " the positive feelings between parents and children"(Freud 58) We have seen people's struggle for both these type of love in our the novels we have read: Sputnik Sweetheart, Age of Iron, and, most recently, Giovanni's Room. Interestingly, in Giovanni's room we see the narrator's struggle between these two types of love. David's family love, has totally been skewed due to the unfulfilled relationship with his father and the lack of a relationship with his deceased mother. On the other hand, David's physical love is directed towards men. However, throughout many instances in the novel, David clearly rejects his seemingly instinctual inclination to be homosexual. I believe that it is the lack of a mother's love as a child resulting in a unfulfilled family love that is the crux of David's confusion. He cannot distinguish between these two types of love as well as not knowing which one he should pursue. It is this conflict that is the foundation of the plot throughout this novel, however their is no clear resolution which is extremely frustrating. Personally, I thought the entire novel was frustrating. If David had read Freud I think he would have been able to make a decision rather than living in guilt.