The Kite Runner And Oedipus Rex Analysis

The themes of The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex are free will and redemption. The author of each book shows how redemption is a major aspect in both stories by leading up to what each character did of their free will and showing the significance of how vile their mistakes were. Although the two authors thought the way to redemption was pain, the pain was very different in each book. In Oedipus rex, Oedipus took responsibility immediately and thought his redemption could only be fulfilled by exile and piercing his eyes so he could no longer see. Amir in The Kite Runner later took responsibility for his actions, he always felt guilt, never did he think he would find redemption but later he did. Amir met face to face with Assef the barbarian

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.

In his essay, “Introduction to Oedipus the King”, Bernard Knox supports free will by stating that Oedipus’ downfall was not caused by fate. According to Knox there is not a doubt that, “Oedipus is the free agent who, by his own self-willed action, discovers that his own predicted destiny has already been fulfilled” (86). He clearly states that Oedipus is responsible for his free actions during the play. He insists that Oedipus’s made the decisions to discover the truth about himself.

“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.

In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles’ most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greek’s popular belief that fate will control a man’s life despite of man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an integral part in Oedipus' destruction.

In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses his protagonist, Oedipus, to explore his pursuit of knowledge, which leads to his tragic destruction. Oedipus is a favorable king who is determined to end the curse that has been brought upon the city because the murderer of his predecessor, Laius, still lies in the city. Ironically, Oedipus delivers the curse to the city because he murdered his father, Laius. Oedipus’s desire to gain knowledge and bring the murderer of Laius to justice, results in his downfall, which causes the people around him to be greatly affected as well.

Redemption and forgiveness are themes that often follow after sin. In Oedipus Rex redemption comes when the person who has sinned is punished for their sins: “But, since these matters are as foully said as done, by the gods, quickly hide me from the sight of men somehow, or kill me or cast me into the sea, where you will never see me again. Go, deem it worthy to touch a poor man! Yield, do not fear; for my evils are such that no one of men can bear but me.” (Sophocles 60). Oedipus realizes he has done wrong and wants to fix it and find redemption by being killed or exiled so that the city can thrive. In The Kite Runner, forgiveness is seen in Rahim Khan wanting Amir to redeem himself and make up for what he did to Hassan all those years before: “‘Amir Jan, I summoned you here because I wanted to see you before I die, but that’s not all.’ I said nothing. I think I already knew what he was going to say. ‘I want you to go to Kabul. I want you to bring Sohrab here,’... ‘Why me? Why can’t you pay someone here to go? I’ll pay for it if it’s a matter of money.’ ‘It isn’t about the money, Amir! Rahim Khan roared. ‘I’m a dying man and I will not be insulted! It has never been about the money with me, you know that. And why you? I think we both know why it has to be you, don’t we?’ I didn’t want to understand that comment, but I did. I understood it all too well.” Amir is still afraid to face what he has

Neither his father, nor he could escape the tragedy, and fate showed how it could toy with the lives and emotions of mortal beings of the world. The characteristic traits of Oedipus lead his to follow the required sequence of events so as to make the prophecy come true to every word. Thus, it can be opined that his free will and choice blended with the fate that was ascribed to him by the Almighty right at the time of his birth. Thus, the undeniable transcendence of fate drives the course of the play by Sophocles. The prophecy that was made to King Laius and Jocasta is the greatest example that proves that no human effort can succeed in escaping fate.

Both stories have the theme of fate in them. In The Kite Runner it showed fate when Sohrab was adopted by Amir. The reason this is fate because Amir’s wife was not able to have children. Amir and Soraya tried to have a child of their own but were unsuccessful. Amir and Soraya then lived there life for a while by themselves because Soraya’s father General Taheri is strongly against adoption because he doesn't feel it is right for afghans. Once Baba died from cancer and word got back to Rahim Kahn, Rahim Kahn then invited Amir to come back to Afghanistan to inform Amir things he was not told about his life. Amir found out that Hassan is his half brother and that he had died but Hassan had a child named Sohrab. Amir then adopts his child Sohrab and now he has a child who related by blood and Amirs wife is okay with it and is happy that he is bringing him back to the United States. In a way this is Amirs repayment to Hassan from when Amir watched Hassan get raped. In the book Hassan would do anything for Amir and proves it when he says “For you, a thousand times over” (Hosseini 2). This quote is very important to the story and is repeated multiple times throughout the story. Amir hears Hassan say this and it reminds him of letting Hassan get rapped and makes him feel extremely guilty Amir needed some way to repay him and fate made him take care of his child Sohrab. In Oedipus Rex Oedipus is king of Thebes and there is a huge plague happening. Oedipus has Creon go to Apollo to find out how to stop the plague. Creon finds out that in order to stop the

Starting off with The Kite Runner, there are more clues of fate than those in Oedipus Rex’s story. For example, the simple kites in the story represent fate and prophecy pointing out themes from the beginning. Amir and Hassan had always been best friends, like brothers. They played together they had

Hosseini and Sophocles created pieces of work that shared a common theme with each other. The Kite Runner and Oedipus Rex have two completely different plot, but can relate with a theme of how important the past is in the book. The theme of the book is about how the past will always follow them and will always be a part of them. In The Kite Runner, an event from the past has made Amir become who he is now. Amir and his half brother, Hassan were close. They had a strong bond even when they did not know they were related. Even that strong bond did not stop Amir from doing what was right when everything happened and it changed Amir’s perspective on everything. Amir retold what had happened and said, “Assed knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s hips and lifted his bare buttocks” (Hosseini 75). This memory from Amir’s past was a compelling moment in the plot because if this didn’t happen then it would not lead to Amir having sympathy for Hassan’s son. Amir only felt the way he did because he could of prevented Hassan’s rape, but instead he just stood there and watch it happen. In Oedipus Rex, Jocasta discusses the memories of the death of King Laius. She said, “ "A prophecy came to Laius once-I won’t say from Apollo himself, but from his servants-that death would come from his child, whoever was born to him from me” (Sophocles 35). This memory allowed Oedipus remember some of him memories from his past. The memories were later on retold from the shepherd when he

King uses strong visual imagery to compare Jack and Ullman’s positions in the power structure. When Jack first meets Ullman he describes his suit as being reassuring to the customers. However he thinks, "To the hired help it spoke more curtly: this had better be good you” (1). Jack describes Ullman’s suit as being very demanding. The word "spoke" personifies a suit, giving it more power. The suits demanding presence also portrays Ullman’s dominance over his employees. Ullman's suit is described as dark, perhaps the color black. The color black holds holds a great significance. Ullman tells Jack how, “ This year the overlooks accounts were written in black ink for the first time in almost 7 decades” (9). The color black translates into success,

The authors treatment to the willingness to ignore the truth in Oedipus Rex . It makes it seem as if Oedipus has escaped from his fate by running away. But then later on he finds out that he was adopted.This changes everything when creon tells him that the only way to find the cure to the plague they need to find the killer of laius. Oedipus is set to save his city from death he will do anything to find the murder but what he doesn't know that he is the murder. Oedipus says “I ban this man whoever he is from all land everyone must expel him from their homes as this man is the source of our pollution”(18). The author puts this in as a foreshadowing of what's going to happen to oedipus he curses

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.

Sophocles Oedipus the King is a tragic play which discusses the tragic discovery of Oedipus that he has killed his father and married his mother. The story of Oedipus was well-known to the Athenian's. Oedipus is the embodiment of the perfect Athenian. He is self-confident, intelligent, and strong willed. Ironically these are the very traits which bring about his tragic discovery. Oedipus gained the rule of Thebes by answering the riddle of Sphinx. Sophocles used the riddle of the sphinx as a metaphor for the 3 phases of Oedipus' life and to further characterized him as a tragic man. The Sphinx posed the following riddle to all who came to obtain the rule of Thebes: “What is it that walks on 4 feet and 2 feet and 3 feet and has only one voice, when it walks on most feet it is the weakest?” Oedipus correctly answered “Man” and became the king of Thebes. This riddle is a metaphor for the life of Oedipus. As a child man crawls on his hands and knees this is the four feet to which the Sphinx refers. Also, man is at his weakest as a small child. He depends solely on others for his nourishment and well-being. Oedipus was the child of Jocasta and King Laius who was taken to the mountain by a Shepard to be killed so the omen of the god Apollo that Laius' son would kill him and lay with Jocasta would not come true. Oedipus was the weakest of his life at this point.