O.J. Simpson Trial “Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy” (qtd in “O.J. Simpson”). This quote written by F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly depicts the fate of O.J. Simpson after he was accused and acquitted of the double murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman on the night of June 12, 1994. O.J. Simpson was born and raised in San Francisco, California where his mother worked as an orderly in a psychiatric ward and his father as a porter in a private club. O.J. Simpson was one of the most sought after football players of all time. Not only was he loved on the football field by millions, but also off the field where he was welcomed with open arms by virtually any group of people. Everybody thought that after O.J. retired from the game of football that they would not see much of him anymore, but they were wrong, the opposite occurred. Simpson’s career flourished in 1983 when he signed a contract with ABC and appeared in multiple movies, television shows, and advertisements, boosting his career to an all time high, he was on top of the world. His life began to take a nosedive when he was convicted of Spousal Battery of his second wife, Nicole Brown Simpson in 1989. Shortly after this altercation, O.J. and Nicole filed for divorce. They rekindled their romance in March of 1994, but quickly called it quits once again in May. On a seemingly quiet Sunday in June things took a turn for the worst. On June 12, 1994 Simpsons ex-wife Nicole and
The Tragic Hero and the Tragic Story in William Shakespeare's Writing Shakespeare's tragedies are, for the most part, stories of one person,
American Heroes were inspired by Greek Tragic Heroes, yet both are very different from each other, but American Heroes have very similar traits to those who are Contemporary Heroes. An American Hero is a person who seeks justice and always defeats the enemy which results in all people having the justice they deserve. American Heroes also tends to protect all and has the tendency to fall in love with the “ damsel in distress”. This type of hero goes about his daily life, just like anyone else would, until it is time to fight, and at that time, their “supernatural” powers shine through in their fighting techniques. On the other side, all Tragic Heroes possess a flaw that will change their life from a life of happiness to a life of pain and despair. Ordinarily, Contemporary Heroes have nearly the same traits as American Heroes. Contemporary Heroes save and protect many individuals from violence and harm and lives a normal life until they have to face another obstacle. Both American and Contemporary Heroes are able to celebrate their victories, while Tragic Heroes can not do so because they are not victorious.
In 1985 the same year he was put in the NFL hall of fame, Simpson had met and would later marry in the same year Nicole Brown. Nicole had complained that Simpson was physically abusive. On 1989 during a New Year’s Eve party they had a physical fight, on which Simpson had allegedly threatened to kill her. During an interview with ESPN concerning the fight Simpson had said “We had a fight. We were both guilty. No one was hurt. It was no big deal, and we got on with our life.” Brown eventually filed for divorce in
On June 13, 1994, bodies of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were found at Nicole’s apartment in Los Angeles. The police arrived, investigated and fairly fast looked at Nicole Brown's ex husband who is O.J. Simpson, the football star, as a suspect for the murders. Four days later an arrest warrant was made out, and this lead to the famous television live breaking news that O.J. Simpson was leading police on a slow chase in his white Ford Bronco, and later his arrest. Millions of people watched this. On July 8, 1994, there was the first hearing that decided if there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial. It was decided there was enough evidence. The process of selection started in September and completed in November. The jury was sequestered in the middle of
Whitley on June 24 1967, while still marred, Simpson at the age of 29 started seeing a waitress Nicole Brown who at the time was only 17! This among other things such as physical and mental abuse resulted in the divorce of Simpson and Whitely in 1979 (infoplease). O.J and Nicole married in 1985 having two beautiful children together. Prior to the new year’s party in 1989 it was only speculated that O.J was physically abusing Nicole but during a 911 call Nicole reported O.J had hit her and she thinks he is going to kill her, there was three more calls like this before she filed for divorced in 1992, each time the charges were dropped. When asked about the 911 call O.J would only reply “We had a fight, we were both guilty, no one was hurt. No big deal” (biography). Even though Nicole went to friends having them take pictures every time he beat her saying “O.J is going to kill me and get away with it because he is O.J Simpson.” These pictures where not able to be used as evidence in the
In Shakespeare’s classic play, Romeo and Juliet, the prologue refers to the title characters as “star-cross’d lovers” with a “death-mark’d love”, showing that the two are doomed from the start (Shakespeare 3). Being from two opposing families that are in a never-ending feud, Romeo and Juliet 's love is forbidden. However, throughout the novel, the lovers defy their parents and pursue their fast-forming love with the help of supporting characters, such as Friar Lawrence, who are seemingly presented as beneficial characters that help the story progress. However, it can be argued that these ”beneficial characters” are actually interfering with their relationship, and are a key factor in contributing to their deaths. Although fate is seemingly
Tragic Greek dramas featured tragic heroes, mortals who suffered incredible losses as a result of an inescapable fate or bad decisions. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character, usually of high birth, which is pre-eminently great, meaning they are not perfect, and whose downfall is brought about by a tragic weakness or error in judgment. The three Greek heroes Oedipus, Medea and Agamemnon, who each killed a member of their family, carry most of the qualities that make up a tragic hero: being of noble birth, being surrounded by an extraordinary circumstance, and gaining self-awareness or some kind of knowledge through their downfall. There is an important need for the audience to identify with the Aristotelian hero through
A possible theme for Oedipus the King by Sophocles is that one’s blindness can hide the inevitability that is his destiny. Oedipus is in this situation. He struggles to escape his fate: killing his father and marrying his mother and believes he is successful. Sophocles believes that the gpds control one’s destiny and the inevitability that a person will do what is destined despite there hero’s intentions.Oedipus represent the standards of a true tragic hero: he is well known, basically good, his punishment is out of proportion compared to his crime, the audience at some point feels sorrow and pity for him, and Oedipus has a tragic flaw. During the whole story Oedipus thinks that he may be able to change his fate a live life how he wants but he falls to that which is his destiny.For these reason Oedipus is truly an example of a tragic hero and is unable to avoid his tragic fate.
In the Poetics, Aristotle provides an outline of how the artist is to portray or represent the perfect Tragedy. A Tragedy, of course, was nothing more than a drama, in which the characters appeared "better" than in real life (in a comedy, they appeared "worse," according to Aristotle). Aristotle's Poetics makes several references to other dramatic works to illustrate his points, but he most commonly calls upon The Odyssey to support his argument for how a dramatic structure should be designed. However, along with the Odyssey, Aristotle extensively references Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both poetic works were enormously popular in their time (the former had been passed down orally for generations, and the latter won the top prizes at the dramatic festivals). Therefore, Aristotle is comfortable using both to support his viewpoint concerning Tragedy and the Tragic Hero. This paper will analyze the standards that Aristotle sets out concerning the definition of the Tragic Hero and show how Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a Tragic Hero.
After watching O.J. Made in America, I gained a different perspective of O.J Simpson and the understanding of how society was back in the early 50’s. When I had first heard of O.J Simpson it was not about football or him being in movies, it was about how he had brutally murdered his wife at the time and her lover. Along with hearing about how he had brutally murdered the two, it was known how he was self-centered, very egocentric and would try to talk his way out of everything which the film had stated. In the beginning of the film it showed O.J Simpson in court, being asked if he was first arrested at the age of 46. Then instantly moved forward to how his football career started. I feel like the director did this to show how O.J was before the allegation of him being convicted of manslaughter. High school he was known for football and eventually a college recruiter scouted him from the University of South California. Furthering his fame with football he was known in college for the “run”. The run was when USC was playing against UCLA. When USC was losing badly within 11 minutes O.J made a touch down making the win for USC. Finally From there the New York Buffalo’s coach recruited him where later on he had retired from the football fame to now being an actor.
have been many fallen heroes who have been key subjects to be known in essence as
Popular descriptions of Alexei Karenin label him as a cold and passionless government official who doesn’t care about his wife or family. Indeed, he is viewed as the awful husband who is holding Anna hostage in a loveless marriage. However, this is a highly exaggerated description, if not completely false, analysis of Karenin. Upon careful analysis of Karenin’s character and his actions, it is clear that he is not the person Anna makes him out to be. In fact, with thorough examination of the passage on pages 384 and 385 of Anna Karenina, it is clear that Alexei Karenin can be considered the hidden tragic hero of the novel.
William Shakespeare, born in the year 1564, is often considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writer in the English language. His works range from ingenious poems, such as Fear No More, to plays, such as The Tragedy of Othello. In The Tragedy of Othello, Shakespeare details the story of a celebrated military hero who falls victim to the machinations of a conniving villain who goes by the name of Iago. In his play, he portrays Othello like a tragic hero, a type of literary character. A tragic hero has many characteristics, 3 of them being that they must have an error in judgement, they must have a reversal of fortune, and they must recognize that the reversal of fortune was brought about by their own actions. Furthermore, they must also have a fatal flaw, that eventually leads to their downfall. Othello demonstrates all of these characteristics in the play, proving him to be a tragic hero. Othello makes an error in judgement, which leads to his change in fortune, and later realizes that his actions are what caused said change in fortune.
A tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy story. He is the main theme.
According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy, tragedies are best equipped to be based on a protagonist that is renowned and prosperous, so his good fortune can be dramatically changed. In contrast, Arthur Miller’s essay “Tragedy and the Common Man” states “that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings ever were.” He proves in his modern essay that the characteristics and emotions of the common man and the highly placed are entitled to be similar. Miller even identifies emotions of a average person and how they result in a better tragedy than those who are highly ranked. In his play “Death of Salesman” he demonstrates that the normal life of a sales man can still make for a great tragedy and that his protagonist, Willy Loman, is worthy of a tragedy.