From Mother to Father

It is Erikson’s view that a sense of identity, indeed the sum of what we all are, is achieved by accretion, each structure resulting from what preceded it. The paternal identity of little boys—their would-be parenthood—follows this general principle as well, revealing a succession of identifications with the nurturing and generative functions of both mother and father. In this chapter, I shall sketch the unfolding of paternal identity in early childhood, a progression which climaxes during the oedipal era, presaging the psychological paternity of the adult man.