We Cannot Escape Fate - 882 Words

Not knowing who you are can put many hard strains on your life. For many, it can lead to a path of failure and ruin, but knowing who you are, and where you came from often helps you decide where you want to go. For Oedipus, the journey of finding out who he was lead him to his destruction. The play depicts the working of the inner layers of the subconscious mind through the words and the actions of Oedipus and his parents. When king Laius and queen Jocasta of Thebes, have a son, the God Apollo prophesizes that he will kill his father, then marry and have children with his mother. Horrified by the disgusting future, the parents attempt to kill the baby by leaving him exposed on a mountain, but he is taken care of by a shepherd that finds†¦show more content†¦They were so upset by what the drunkard had said that I was reassured. But my certainty did last: the drunkard’s words stayed there, nagging at my mind, until at last I decided to find out the truth once and for al l†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 31) If Oedipus was truly reassured that Polybus and Merope were his parents, that nagging would not have happened. He subconsciously knew that they were not his parents and the drunkard just reinforced his deeply buried beliefs. Oedipus goes to a prophet in Delphi and is told the prophecy, and runs away to avoid killing Polybus and Merope because he thinks they are his mother and father. While running, he crosses paths with Laius, his father and king of Thebes and murders him. This action enters his subconscious mind although he does not consciously address it until later. Oedipus ends up in his home city of Thebes and solves the riddle of the Sphinx, saves the city and marries the queen, Jocasta, who is his real mother. 25 years later, a disease plagues Thebes and Oedipus finds out it is because nothing has been done to avenge king Laius’s death. Oedipus subconscious becomes aroused as Oedipus becomes adamant on finding the murderer of Laius, cursing him and saying â€Å"I pray that he may live a tormented, accursed and friendless life, and die in misery! And I add myself to this curse:Show MoreRelatedTheme Of Fate In Oedipus708 Words   |  3 PagesWe also find that fate has led him to be ignorant of his the fact that those he considers his parents are not really his biological parents. The play portrays Oedipus as a man with much love for his family. Though he wishes to see his parents, he vows not to return to his home in Corinth for fear of falling into fate’s hands. Had he known who his parents are beforehand, he never would have slain his father and married his mother. His actions are noble and meant for the greater good however, twistRead MoreEvaluating Arguments For Film s Magic Essay1511 Words   |  7 Pagesenemies. From the first battle of the Trojan War, Achilles places himself as a hero. The audience is impressed with his courage and bravery but repulsed with his arrogance. Even so, it is clear that the film’s argument is that it is impossible to escape our destiny. To understand the main argument of this film, â€Å"Troy,† one needs to turn to Achilles reason for joining the war. It is true that he was not fighting for Greek, but for his self-interest. He wished to be immortal. At heart, everyone facesRead MoreEvaluating Arguments For Film s Magic Essay1511 Words   |  7 Pagesthe enemies. From the first battle of the Trojan War, Achilles places himself as a hero. The audience is impressed with his courage and bravery, but repulsed by his arrogance. Even so, it is clear that the film’s argument is that it is impossible to escape our destiny. To understand the main argument of this film, â€Å"Troy,† one needs to turn to Achilles reason for joining the war. It is true that he was not fighting for Greek, but for his self-interest. He wished to be immortal. At heart, everyone facesRead MoreOedipus Essay788 Words   |  4 Pagesproblem with worry is that we attract the very thing we are trying to avoid. This quote directly relates to the Greek tragedy Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In this play, Sophocles gives Oedipus the tragic flaw, hubris (excessive pride in oneself), which eventually causes him to run into his fate that he wanted to escape. Excessive pride in oneself has been the downfall of multiple characters like Oedipus. Oedipus wont accept the fact that he cannot escape his fate because of his uncontrollableRead MoreOedipus in Sophocles Oedipus Rex and Young Colonel Sartoris Snopes in William Faulkners Barn Burning: A Comparative Analysis of Characters1034 Words   |  4 Pagesquandaries they find themselves in are related to conceptions of fate and their families. In that respect, it is quite interesting to note that the actions of each of the characters leave them in exile, estranged from their families. Therefore, a throughout analysis of each of these texts reveals that both Oedipus and Sartoris are aware of their ill-fated destines, rely on brash action to attempt to avoid it, and ultimately meet the same fate that of exile and estrangement from their families. The principleRead MoreIn The Trial And One Hundred Years Of Solitude1447 Words   |  6 Pagescharacters from these two books do not exists in the boring rituals of life, they cannot escape a cyclical fate. In The Trial, Josef K. is referred to mostly by â€Å"K.†, stripping him of an identity and reducing him to a single letter, forcing him into the isolation of a dystopian society where individualism is a capital crime. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, however, the name of the characters condemns them to a predetermined fate, depriving the individual of choice. In both books, characters are not individualsRead MoreExamples Of Fame And Shame In Oedipus965 Words   |  4 PagesFame and Shame: The Great Polarities of Oedipus the King Most tragic heroes are revered and loved by many until they face a plight that ultimately leads to their demise. This plight not only affects the fate of the hero ,but how they are seen by others. The tragedy, â€Å"Oedipus the King† (KO), written by Sophocles, is no exception. King Oedipus is popular to all the citizens of Thebes for his work in solving the Sphinx’s riddle and ridding of a disastrous plague, however, a truth unbeknownst to himRead MoreAnalysis Of Oedipus The King 1696 Words   |  7 Pagesubiquitous and ever-present fate, rather than people themselves, dominates that people’s destiny. This essay aims to analyze the characteristics and the root causes of Oedipus’s misery to discover the fatalism the playwright want to state. To investigate the characteristics and the root causes of the tragedy Oedipus is beneficial for us to have more in-depth, objective insight to ancient Greek culture and understand the essence of tragedy correctly, le ads us to think of the ultimate fate of life. In the faceRead MoreEssay on Unbearable Lightness of being1044 Words   |  5 Pagesmust fall into nihilism unless one acts as if ones acts recur eternally, thus giving our acts quot;weight,quot; the weight of those choices we make, as though recurring eternally, living forever. Kundera rejects Nietzsches optimism and in compelling detail and poignancy he give us the story of the painful love affair of Tomas and Tereza, condemned by fate and choice to live together, yet never ceasing to cause each other enormous pain and suffering. Tomas, a surgeon living in Prague just beforeRead MoreAnalysis Of `` No Country For Old Men ``1247 Words   |  5 PagesCountry For Old Men,† fate plays a significant role in the novel and is present in the lives of each of the characters he portrays. Fate, as defined in the dictionary, is â€Å"the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do.† The theme of fate is demonstrated in all of the characters in the novel, but most evidently in Llewellyn Moss, Ed Tom Bell, Carla Jean, Carson Wells, and Anton Chigurh. Fate is the main difference