Comparing Truth In Oedipus The King And Minority Report

Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, stresses the idea of who is blind and who can see by demonstrating that one cannot simply just run away from their mistakes and issues. As the story unfolds, each character makes several attempts to hide from the truth. Though the foul truths may seem to be masked within the darkness, they are eventually brought into the light, shining over the devious lies placed before it. Nevertheless, the real question lies within whether or not the person receiving the truth can endure it. By coping with the truth, one sees, but by denying it, one stays blind. One way or another, however, problems arise, secrets come out, and chaos ensues because one cannot stay blinded from the truth forever.

Many individuals ask for the truth, some even feel entitled to it. The truth however, is so complex that it never involves a simple answer of a yes or no. The truth is often too stressful that some believe it would be better off to tell or hear a lie. In a movie entitled A Few Good Men, Colonel Nathan Jessup delivers a speech entitled, “You Can’t Handle the Truth”. Within his speech, Colonel Jessup’s effectively uses ethos convey how not every individual can handle the truth.

Truth may not be the the most popular idea, but it will always come out. This idea protrudes throughout every piece of writing we’ve read this year. It is a topic that is prevalent in many novels, but seems to be extenuated in the pieces this year. The characters seem to always know the truth yet steer away from it. They try to fight the truth and may try to change it, but it always comes back to get them in the end. The characters never want to accept their truth or fate. As I’ve said before, truth may not be the the most popular idea; but it will always come out.

Oedipus didn’t realise the significance of laius’s death until later when he remembered the crime he had committed and confessed it all to Jocasta. when confessing he told jocasta “I killed him. I killed them all. Ah! If laius is this unknown man, there’s no one in this world so doomed as I” (Sophocles 45) He realized that he went too far and now the gods were trying to punish him for testing their power, and he made this clear when he stated “And who but I have done it all?

Oedipus’ foolish decisions ultimately lead to his downfall in the play. Oedipus chooses to kill Laios. He chooses to marry Iocaste. He chooses to forcefully, and publicly, assume the mission of discovering the identity of Laios’ murderer saying ironically, “I say I take the son’s part, just as though I were his son, to press the fight for him and see it won,” (633). He proceeds on this mission and chooses to ignore the warnings of Creon, Iocaste, Teiresias, the messenger, the shepherd, and anyone who attempts to stand between him and the truth; and, he chooses to blind himself. In the end, Oedipus’ most foolish choice prevails throughout the play; the choice of illusion over reality ultimately costs him his life.

One moment, Oedipus is brimming with hope; the next, he’s sure that he is the killer of his father, King Laius. Every time Oedipus thinks that it can’t possibly be him, evidence proves otherwise. His wife, Jocasta, attempts to prove his innocence but “lets out part of the dire secret by her allusion to the ‘triple crossroads’” (Haigh). By attempting to assist Oedipus, she

The plot of Oedipus the King, a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles, revolves around several prophecies. A plague has stricken Thebes, and Oedipus discovers that the plague will only end when the murder of King Laius has been caught. Additionally, another prophecy states that the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus vows to the citizens of Thebes that he will find the murderer, but as the plot develops, Oedipus comes to the realization that he himself was the murderer that he had been seeking. There are several scenes in Oedipus the King that incorporate violence, and these violent scenes are a critical aspect of the play because they contribute to the development of the plot; the use of violence, whether verbal or physical, also enhances our understanding of the characters’ personalities and/or emotions.

Oedipus believes that he can see the end of this long battle and his perception towards the event is in a positive light. However, Oedipus is “blinded” to the truth because he refuses to believe the blind prophet Teresias. When Teresias tells him that he is the one who killed King Laius, Oedipus is in a state of denial and he mocks Teresias’ physical ability of sight. Oedipus’s perception becomes uneasy because he believes he starts to lose his“sight” when regarding the solution to the problem. As Oedipus

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Sophocles, Oedipus the King, both of the main characters conform to the same classic tragic hero formula. Oedipus suffers a life based on a pre‐birth prophecy, whereas Hamlet finds himself burdened with the task of avenging his father’s death. In both situations, two kings must leave their innocence behind as the truth leads them first, to enlightenment and then to their downfall. They battle between the light, the truth and the darkness, the lie. Both Hamlet and Oedipus are similar in that they both showcase their mental state and stability, they are able to make swift decisions, and they both deal with relationships with women. Despite similarities between Hamlet and Oedipus, it is Oedipus’ consideration to do what is best for his people and city that makes him the more honourable man.

The king of Thebes will decide to see this matter through on his own terms, no matter the cost. For Oedipus finding the truth becomes something of an obsession, and it is far more important than what that truth might actually reveal. It seems as if the more facts that are uncovered about the murder of Laios, the more determined Oedipus becomes, perhaps still unconvinced about his own possible implication in the death of Laios (even though he remembers killing a man at a crossroads). He relentlessly marches on, ignoring the pleas from his wife, Jocasta, to abandon the

A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle. Only one of his fellow travelers escaped alive. Oedipus promises to solve the mystery of Laius’s death, vowing to curse and drive out the murderer.

In the case of Oedipus, the fact that the readers know from the past action that the title character has killed his father, contrasted with Oedipus' ignorance of his partially-self-inflicted fate (when he had vowed to avenge his father by executing the person who had murdered him, not knowing that person to be himself), results in a great deal of suspenseful tension regarding the nature of Oedipus' ultimate acceptance of the truth. To the reader, prior to the occurrence of the climatic events, when Oedipus finally does realize that the prophecies of the Oracle have been correct for all his time mired under ignorance, it is uncertain what emotions he will undergo, and how they will be different from those which he already experiences. What conflicts will he face, with himself or with society and nature? As the play unfolds, it provides the answers to these questions in dramatic fashion through Oedipus' thoughts, which further adds to the suspense behind his final actions. Ultimately, Oedipus' use of dramatic irony, together with the titular king's inner conflict of emotion and rational thought, provides the suspense and excitement that permeates the

Often the past will present answers to questions about the future as well as questions of the now, and in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ past plays an integral role in his pursuit of righting the wrongs that are affecting him in the present. In the play, Oedipus must identify who has killed Laius in order to exile them to solve the qualms of his people, and in a dialogue with Jocasta, who happens to be his wife as well as his mother, she reveals to him details of the death of Laius that seem far too familiar for his comfort (Sophocles 27). This revelation of information acts as a catalyst that forces Oedipus to make the connection between his past and what Jocasta is telling him. This realization that he may have been responsible for Laius’ death exposes him to the weight of the pursuit of justice sometimes hold for humans. Through this dialogue, Oedipus comes to fear that he is the culprit of the scandal that is plaguing the situation, thus putting him in the position of a criminal who will face the due punishment for the crime. This internal conflict that Oedipus experiences creates and

A possible reason for his ignorance, and a fascinating twist, could be that Oedipus had originally believed that he was the murderer of Laius, and knew at the time of the story, that he had married his own mother (Daniels and Scully, 26). All the public cursing, the whole "Now my curse on the murderer" (Sophocles, 172) was really a spectacle to throw the suspicion off himself (Daniels and Scully, 26). However, most literary scholars don't believe this, as Oedipus does seem to display a great deal of remorse when he realizes that the prophecies about him are true. If it is all a setup by Oedipus, then he is both extraordinarily intelligent and stupid, by hiding the truth for so long and being self destructive at the same time (Daniels and Scully, 26). Most believe that "Oedipus has simply chosen to ignore a real possibility" (Daniels and Scully, 21). Howard Clarke said that "[Oedipus] reaches a point where he is, literally, the captive of what he is searching for." (Clarke, 593). He reached a "point in his search where he is carried along on the tide of his of his own discoveries" (Clarke, 593). A part from these interesting interpretations, Oedipus Rex can be read from cover to cover as a normal detective story with all the basic elements; suspects, crime, clues and an investigator. The whole plot rotates around one significant event, which was the killing of Laius. So now we have the crime stated, we

A common adage is “The truth will set you free”, although generally great advice, I have yet to decide if that is one that should be provided to the characters of Oedipus Rex. The characters are of lower ranks to the upper class believe the exact opposite. The truth will cause great harm. That idea is depicted repeatedly when Oedipus asks several characters the truth and they all beg him to leave it be and you will wish you had never known. And in this context their thoughts rang true.