Paternalistic Connections in Libra
P aternalistic Connections in Libra Growing up without a stable father figure in The Bronx, Lee Harvey Oswald embodies characteristics of a misfit antihero with little male role models initially to lean on. This is perhaps why, as Oswald (addressed throughout the novel by various pseudonyms, including Lee, Ozzie, Alek, and Leon , finds himself transfixed in male figures who have something to offer him, either physical or intellectual. Oswald is a simultaneous self-proclaimed “know-it-all” who knows little about the world, and much of his actions come from places of trying to seek out outsider attention. Some of us may need food and water to survive, but Oswald needs male attention and affirmation. A notable “father figure” to Oswald is Konno, “an interesting guy… with wavy hair and dark glasses” Oswald meets while being stationed in Atsugi, Japan (Delillo 83). Konno becomes someone Oswald is able to confide his left wing and Marxist ideology with, and they bond over Communism and U2 pl...