Swan contends that Freud's elaboration of the Oedipus complex, which portrayed the boy as aggressive and related castration anxiety to fear of retaliation for aggression, was a defense against acknowledgment of his passivity, dependence, and sexual inadequacy vis-à-vis his Nannie, the woman who cared for him during his first two and a half years. Swan finds parallels in contemporary society which attempt to deny the fact of human interdependence; among them are male chauvinism and the scorn of the bourgeoisie for the laboring class.