Sophocles is perhaps one of the greatest tragedians ever. Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain. This pain stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. Oedipus freely chooses to pursue and accept his own life’s destruction. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.
Oedipus’ pride, strung from his own heroic qualities, is one factor that ruined him. A hero prizes above all else his honor and the excellence of his life. When his honor is at stake, all other considerations become irrelevant. The hero “valued strength and skill, courage and determination, for these attributes enabled the person who possessed them to achieve glory and honor, both in his lifetime and after he died” (Rosenburg 38). Oedipus was certainly a hero who was exceptionally intelligent though one can argue that killing four men at Phokis single-handedly more than qualified him as a physical force of reckoning. He obviously knew his heroic status when he greeted the supplicating citizens of Thebes before the palace doors saying, “I would not have you speak through messengers, and therefore I have come myself to hear you – I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name”(Sophocles 1088). Oedipus is “guilty of Hubris- that is, that he is too sure of himself, too confident in his own powers [and] a little undermindful of the gods” (Brooks 573).
Oedipus, a hero of superior intelligence, also displays this …
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…anything for granted lest they suffer like Oedipus – a lesson many should carefully consider.
Works Cited
Brooks, Cleanth. Understanding Drama. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1948. 573-585.
Dodds, E.R. “On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael J. O’Brien. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 17-29.
Knox, Bernard M.W. The Heroic Temper: Studied in Sophocean Tragedy. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1964.
Rosenberg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Illinois: Passport Books, 1988.
Sewall, Richard B. The Vision of Tragedy. London: Yale University Press, 1959. 25- 43.
Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex.” Perrines’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 7th ed. Ed. Thomas R. Arp. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1998. 948-953.
The Character of Marlow in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
The Character of Marlow in Heart of Darkness
Sifting through the detailed descriptions of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness provides tremendous insight into the character of Marlow. Conrad’s words paint Marlow’s personality as selfish and steady.
Marlow can be an amazingly selfish character. You have to wonder if that was his conscious attempt to stay sane or if it was truly how he interacted. While in the outer station Marlow observed a group of Africans chained together, he had no compassion for these men he simply watched them. After they passed, Marlow, thinking nothing of it, crept into the shade and was met by a group of starving Africans dying in the darkness of the trees. At this particular moment the reader is given a glimpse in to Marlow’s compassionate side. One can tell that Marlow is disturbed or distracted by the scene. He even tries to help one of the Africans by giving them a portion of bread. As soon as Marlow stepped out of the shade the image was lost. He thought no more about it and simply continued up the hill. A reader would hope that a companionate character would stop and contemplate what could be done for these people, or at least what kind of society would allow this kind of treatment. Marlow doesn’t think about the starving, or suffering people, which is his way of keeping his mind steady. By not thinking of these people Marlow doesn’t have to question what he is doing in Africa or what he “should” do according to the popular standard. Marlow doest care about what he “should” do Marlow just wants to discover the empty places on the map on his own personal journey.
Marlow uses natural distractions in order to keep from slipping away. He doesn’t seem to be too interested in the human aspects …
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…ation Marlow resisted the effects of the river. Marlow was always one step away from the scene; he was in his own world. By using detailed descriptions of the natural world surrounding Marlow, Conrad could pull the reader into Marlow’s world. In this way he could show more clearly how he used nature to cope with his trip into the heart of darkness.
Works Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1988.
Garner, Richard. The Experience of Philosophy. Ed. Daniel Kolak, Raymond Martin. Belmont California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1996.
Hakluyt, Richard. Voyages and Discoveries. Ed. Jack Beeching. New York: Penguin, 1972.
Purdy, Dwight H. Joseph Conrad’s Bible. Norman, Oklahoma: University Of Oklahoma Press, 1984
Wilson, Robert. Conrad’s Mythology. Troy, New York: Whitson Publishing Co., 1987