Final answer:
Freud suggested that a man's inability to remember his childhood Oedipus complex is an example of repression, an unconscious mechanism used to push away complex thoughts and emotions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sigmund Freud suggested that a man's inability to remember his childhood Oedipus complex illustrates repression. Repression is an ego defense mechanism in which a person faced with anxiety unconsciously pushes painful or unacceptable ideas, thoughts, and emotions out of consciousness. This defense mechanism is a way of forgetting experiences that are too difficult to bear.
During the phallic stage of psychosexual development, the erogenous zone is focused on the genitals. Here boys experience the Oedipus complex, which involves a desire for the opposite-sex parent and emotions of jealousy and rivalry toward the same-sex parent. Failure to resolve this complex can lead to fixation at this stage, potentially resulting in adult personality traits that may be described as vain and overly ambitious. Freud's theories on the unconscious mind stress that repressed memories stored within can influence responses and behaviors without conscious awareness.