Obsession In The Odd Couple By Neil Simon

In the play, The Odd Couple, the author, Neil Simon, uses Felix’s concerns to argue obsession destroys relationships.
The author uses Felix’s concerns to illustrate the idea of obsession. The first example of Felix’s obsession occurs when he is being comforted by his friends after his wife divorced him. Felix tunes out their efforts in comforting him and instead responds to their support with phrases such as “I can’t imagine what Frances must be going through” (Simon, 34). This shows he is an obsessive person because he is overly concerned with the feelings of his wife even though the divorce should have been harder on him. It is good for Felix to be concerned with the feelings of his significant other, but when his concerns began to control his entire outlook on his life and situation, it became unhealthy. Another example of Felix’s obsession is the sharp contrast between the

filthy setting of Act 1 and the spotless setting of Act 2.

This dramatic difference shows how much time Felix must have sacrificed to clean Oscar’s apartment. The author even included that Felix washed each individual playing card with disinfectant. Felix’s attention to detail shows that he is very meticulous and sacrificed a large portion of his time into cleaning. The amount of time Felix put into cleaning the apartment reveals how much a he is concerned with the cleanliness of the apartment. Felix did not balance his time wisely; instead, he obsessed over one thing. This illustrates Felix’s character trait of obsessiveness.
Felix’s obsessiveness destroys his relationships with others. The first relationship that was destroyed by Felix’s obsessive behavior was his relationship with his wife, Frances. In Felix’s rant to Oscar, he states

that “a marriage counselor once kick me out of his office” (Simon, 35) and later explains the counselor wrote “lunatic” (Simon, 35) on his charts. This suggests that Felix had a bad character trait that is worse than anything the counselor had seen before or was prepared to handle. The most obvious negative trait seen in Felix is his obsessiveness, so it is implied that the counselor was driven mad by Felix’s obsession. This shows that obsession drowns out the positive values of relationships, such as family, trust, and love. This occurs even in very close relationships, and obsession can become so much of a burden that significant others are unable to show love anymore. Therefore, obsession destroys the positive side of relationships, leaving only the burdens, and so Felix’s wife divorced him. Another relationship destroyed by Felix’s obsession is his relationship with Oscar. Oscar cannot stand Felix’s extreme concern with the cleanliness of the apartment and it results in their friendship breaking. Felix's concern with the cleanliness of the apartment overpowered Oscar's efforts to help Felix, therefore creating a negative relationship. This shows that when a person is too concerned with small details, they are blinded to the effects it has on others. Felix’s mind was filled with the cleanliness of the apartment, so he didn’t focus on his friendship with Oscar. He, therefore, missed the signs of their relationship deteriorating. This leads to the destruction of the relationship between the two parties.
In conclusion, Neil Simon uses Felix’s concerns to argue obsession destroys relationships between peers. This is done by blinding a person to the negative effects they have on people. Obsession can also destroy even the strongest relationships between two people by drowning out positive values and becoming a burden. Simon used the dramatic character traits of Felix to point out the negative effects of obsession on relationships.