Compare Oedipus Rex And The Kite Runner

A theme is a specific reason that something is happening in a book or a movie. A theme is also in real life. A theme in real life could be you doing something for a specific reason over and over again. The two classic stories of Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey may at first seem very different. One is Ancient Greek and the other is the late 1500’s. One of these stories is more of a hero’s journey while one is more of a love story between star crossed lovers. The themes between The Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet are very similar. The three themes are Loyalty, Love, and Strength. The first theme that is similar between these two books is Loyalty.

In Aristotle’s Poetics, Aristotle gave definition of tragedy as well as a tragic hero. He defined the tragic hero as a man whose misfortunes were coming through his own mistakes, also known as hamartia, not through evils or external conflicts (Aristotle’s Tragic Terms). Ancient Greek tragic heroes were fated by the gods, and experienced their downfalls in different ways. Two classic tragic heroes are Oedipus and Achilles that both of them tied with Apollo’s oracles. Although Oedipus and Achilles have different backgrounds and identities, they both try to escape from their fates, but then prove the God’s

   Oedipus Rex and King Lear are, as their titles announce, both about kings. These two plays are similar in theme and in the questions they pose to the audience. The kings in each play both fall from the pinnacle of power to become the most loathed of all classes in society; Oedipus discovers that he is a murderer and committer of incest, and Lear becomes a mad beggar. Misjudgments occur in both plays, and the same questions about the gods, fate, and free will are posed. In spite of these similarities, however, the final effects of these two plays differ greatly.

It is amazing how two literary works from different time periods and different cultures can portray the same theme. A major theme in both The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex is the limits of free will. The way Khaled Hosseini portrays the theme in The Kite runner is the way that the majority of Pashtuns treat the Hazaras, they are either treated as objects that people can do whatever they want with, they are treated as second class citizens or they are servants to the Pashtuns. In Oedipus Rex, the way that the theme is portrayed is that Oedipus is bound to a prophecy that he heard when he was a child.

“Who am I?” This has become the essential question asked in each literary work The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex. Striving to find who they are the characters, Oedipus and Amir, try to figure out what they have become through their separate journeys. Most of their conclusions rely on the fact that both characters continue to look back into their past. The constant theme in both the novel and the tragedy is continuously looking into the past. Both characters constantly look at the past in ways such as their relationship with their father, the wrong choices they have made, and the secrets that lie in the family.

Death of a Salesman a modern drama that we have read in our class as one of the 3 peace's of literature our professor deems to be important to read. The main characters having a similar theme that they are put into situations out of there control. For the most part they want to be doing the right thing. Weather it's Oedipus form his famous play hunting down the truth even though he knows that if what he is first told is right that he has fulfilled the curse placed on him and must be exiled, or its Hamlet trying to trick everyone he knows into thinking that he is mad to avenge his father. Even willy he tries to lie to his wife to make her feel better about their bleak life. Due to the large gaps in the time periods of when these works of literature have been written there is an evolution. Oedipus Rex and Hamlet are considered tragedy of their time but Death of a sales man is the only one that can't be labeled as a tragedy.

Themes are one of the most important parts of any form of literature. In these two works, the general theme of sin and forgiveness is shown. In Oedipus Rex, the

Oedipus doesn’t realize the personal consequences his hunt for the murderer will have for him, and his loyalty to the truth is based on his ignorance. His pride, ignorance and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. An example is when Oedipus was told [after threatening Tiresias], that he was responsible for the murder of Laius. He became enraged and called the old oracle a liar. However, Oedipus thought he could outsmart the gods, but in fact, his every action moved him closer to the prophesy becoming a reality. Upon discovery of the truth of his birth from the herdsman, Oedipus cries, “O god all come true, all burst to light!/O light now let me look my last on you!/I stand revealed at last cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands”. (631). Oedipus knew that his fate had indeed come to pass and feels cursed by it. Oedipus was guilt, of killing his father and marrying his mother. He punishes himself for the sins he committed by gouging out his eyes. The true sin is when he attempts to raise himself to the level of the gods by trying to escape his fate. Oedipus is accepting the full burden of his acts and knows that he must be punished for his sins. Therefore, this last act of gouging out his eyes was the result of Oedipus’ free will and his tragic fate came about because every sin must

Discuss whether or not a hero who is tragic by trait and definition can exist within the structure of the monomyth.

In each of the literary works, a major event occurred in order to determine the fate of each character. In The Kite Runner after the kite running tournament, Amir begins to worry for Hassan. He finds him trapped in an alley surrounded by Assef, Wali, and Kamal. Amir witnesses Hassan getting molested, “ I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn’t” ( Hosseini 73). The way Amir describes this event makes it life changing as he mentions his life turning out differently if he had done something to change it. In Oedipus Rex, the major event occurs when Oedipus finds his mother dead. At this point in the story, Oedipus finds out that his mother is his beloved wife. Oedipus knows about the prophecy and eventually, it all becomes true. With both of his parents died he begins to feel guilt like Amir did with not saying anything to stop Assef. Both characters in each literary work eventually take this guilt to realize what needs to be done in order to make things right.

Ryan Hayford Mr. Clapham English II Honors 29 January 2018 Oedipus Rex & Things Fall Apart: Doomed Tragic Heroes In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, both protagonists possess tragic flaws which lead to their downfall and tragic endings. Distanced by years in literature, Okonkwo and Oedipus are remarkably similar, however display aspects of their personalities that make their epic journeys of fate quite different. Both characters are arrogant and refuse to be told they are incorrect about anything.

Many questions were raised against Oedipus in class argument about his character flaws, running from the fate, killing his father, marrying his mother, and insulting prophet etc. Here I would try to answer as much I can.

Both pieces of work have the same theme, but deliver it differently. Sophocles story, Oedipus Tyrannus, has its theme delivered at the end of the play. It is not subliminal or found through interpretation. After reading the play, and working back from what the reader learns throughout it, you can see that, in the end, Oedipus’s fate was inevitable.

In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus unknowingly murders his father and marries his mother. When Oedipus discovers this he is disgusted with himself and decides to go into exile. The Misanthrope is a play about the self-exile of the main character Alceste. Challenged in court, he refuses to take back the criticism of a sonnet written by a powerful nobleman. Alceste and Oedipus are both convicted by their knowledge of the truth. Although, the United States grants asylum to more refuges than any other country, there is one man who has decided to self-exile.

When comparing Oedipus and Medea we see the battle of good versus evil, as there is in any story that has a heroic or non heroic figure in the, but this time it is a little bit different from a normal good versus evil story since they are of course both tragedies. The question, in these stories, is whether or not Oedipus or Medea display any heroic qualities during the tragic battles, and the answer is yes but also no. As we know, there are many differences between Medea and Oedipus, but they both end up destroying everything they love and cherish around them because of the choices that they have made with the poor judgment that they had while they were fueled by anger.