Oswald and his Daddy Issues
In Libra by Don Delillo, Lee Harvey Oswald’s attraction to men like David Ferrie, George de Mohrenschildt, and Alek Hidell shows how his insecurity is intertwined with historical circumstance, shaping the ways he is drawn into events much larger than himself. Oswald grew up without a father, and I suspect that this absence left a lasting hole that Oswald seemed to fill with attention from these older men he encounters. Figures like Ferrie and de Mohrenschildt offered not only their guidance but flattery and praise, treating him as clever, serious, and capable of insight beyond his years. Libra obviously fictionalizes these interactions, but it also feels historically grounded, and shows how personality and the little context given can connect to make a real person susceptible to manipulation. One of the things all these men have in common is that they notice him, comment on his intelligence, and frame him as someone important that draws him in rep...
