Similarities Between Oedipus And Minority Report

978 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Who does Oedipus blame for his fate

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth” (Buddha). The power and importance of the truth are that it will always be discovered. In Oedipus and Minority Report people think the truth is necessary to solve their problems. However, when the truth is revealed the outcome damages the character. In the play and film, the characters feel as if they cannot live without knowing the truth. Characters will not stop searching for the truth until they discover it. Oedipus, the strong and powerful leader of Thebes is determined to end the plague and find out who killed Laius. In search of the truth Oedipus asks, “Does any man among you know who killed Laius son of Labdacus?” (Roche 14). Oedipus is eager to find out who …show more content…

Another moment in Oedipus where the truth damages him, is when he figures out that his parents intentionally gave him away. “She, she gave it to you?” (Roche 66). Oedipus had no idea that he was left on a hill and his father handed him to a Shepherd to take the baby somewhere far away. Oedipus is heartbroken and devastated by this shocking information. Similar to Oedipus, the main character John in Minority Report obsessively searches for the truth. When the pre-cogs identify John’s fate, he is obsessed with finding out who he would kill and why. He cannot resist going to room 1006, finding Leo Crow and finding out the truth about who took his son. John without evaluating risks went right in and did whatever it took to get all of the information out of Leo Crow. John thinks he found the killer of his son, but really is being set up. He is devastated and cannot believe the information. Another instance in Minority Report where the truth resulted in long term damage is when the main pre-cog Agatha was unrightfully used. She had a Mom by the name of Ann Lively, who was in rehab. Lamar (the pre-crime creator) took Agatha to be the main source of “power” for precrime. Lamar had promised Agatha’s mother that she could have her

Show More
Related

  • Oedipus Vs Dead Again Analysis

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    The battle of fact versus coincidence has been around since long before any of us were born. Believers argue that everything in life has brought them to their present situation while skeptics may be more reluctant to give into the notion of a predetermined fate. However, everyone questions whether or not fate might actually be true at least once in their life. At the beginning of Oedipus the King, Oedipus did not believe in fate. He thought he could escape his destiny by running away from Corinth after he discovered it was his fate to kill his father and marry his mother. Mike Church, the private detective in the movie Dead Again, is called to a catholic orphanage to assist in finding an amnesiac's family. Unknown to Oedipus and Mike, this would be the start of what both men were destined to do. Stories like Oedipus the King and Dead Again both illustrate the irony of mans struggle with predetermined fate through the eyes of a skeptic.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Oedipus Rex And The Lottery

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    This creates a twist in the plot, making readers discover the true meaning and thinking back to all they had read. Oedipus is told that he has fulfilled his fate and discovering his true identity in the middle of the play, and Mrs. Hutchinson discovers her fate in the middle of the short story as well. This encompasses the full knowledge of the detriments to come. Overall, both dramatizing pieces encompass unknown suspicions that are already evident within communities but not apparent to the readers, yet they are gradually revealed. This creates a captivating plot and accomplishes the goals of the writers – to compel readers to uncover the brutal yet enthralling

    Read More

  • Theory Of Forms: Sophocles 'Allegory Of The Cave'

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Trying to solve the mystery of who killed the previous King, Oedipus does not look at the facts around him. As a prophet, Teiresias explains to Oedipus that he is at fault for the death of Laius but Oedipus does not accept this as true, he embraces the darkness and his view of the truth. Teiresias goes further to convince Oedipus of his fault by saying, “Your clear eyes flooded with darkness. That day will come.” Oedipus has placed himself in a world that is suitable as the truth for him. He is not prepared for change or the opinions of others although he is directly seeking the answer to who killed Laius. This connects to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” because Oedipus is very similar to the prisoners. He is set in his way and the light of knowledge does not immediately impact him. Teiresias bluntly says to Oedipus, “You have eyes to see with, but you do not see yourself” (Sophocles, 42). He pushes and pushes Oedipus to understand that he killed Laius but with no luck. Once Oedipus learns more about how Laius was killed and figures out that he killed a man that way he goes into the light. His reality has now changed just as it did for the prisoner who was released from the cave. But for Oedipus, facing the truth is something he is not able to do with ease. Teiresias says to Oedipus that “wisdom is a curse when [it] does nothing for the man who has it” (37).

    Read More

  • Denial In Oedipus The King

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the beginning of the text, an explanation is presented of how Thebes must “drive out a killer” in order to purge the city of the plague (99). Oedipus sets on a quest that includes Tiresias’s baffling words. Tiresias confronts Oedipus with [Oedipus’s] truth by revealing he is the murderer of Laius and “pollutes the land” (352). Oedipus is also bound by Apollo’s prophecy; his [Oedipus] fate is sealed (377). Oedipus displays his denial by refusing that he is the murderer and placing the blame on Creon.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex Essay

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    In fact, Oedipus’ determination towards solving the mystery behind Laius’ death ironically lead to the truth behind the oracle’s prophecy. His supercilious “energia” is present during his speech to the people of Thebes where he states, “As for the criminal, I pray to God -/ Whether it be lurking thief, or one of a number -/ I pray that that man’s life be consumed in evil and/ wretchedness,” (30). Furthermore, he explains that, “If any man knows by whose hand Laius, son of Labdacus,/ Met his death, I direct that man to tell me everything,/… Moreover: if anyone knows the murderer to be foreign,/ Let him not keep silent: he shall have his reward from me,” (30). When Oedipus seeks advice from Apollo in order to lift the curse casted upon Thebes, he lea...

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Macbeth And Oedipus The King

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus the King is a very famous Greek tragedy written by Sophocles that was first performed in 429 B.C. A major theme during the course of the play is the characters keenness to ignore the truth. Many times in the play, there are circumstances in which the truth is blatantly obvious, however the major protagonists are blinded by their own self-preservation to see it. For instance, when the messenger says, “Your ankles… they tell the story. Look at them”(1032). When Oedipus was a child, his birth parents, Jocasta and Laius, bound his feet together. The fact that Jocasta never made the connection between Oedipus and her once baby illustrates that she doesn’t want to hear the truth.

    Read More

  • Oedipus The King Suppressed Desire Analysis

    475 Words  | 1 Pages

    Oedipus is searching for the truth of his identity. He vows to get to the bottom of Laius homicide, in spite of his mother/wife's insistence on not to and other people's voice telling him not to. In the play Jocasta, his wife advises him as he inches closer

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: A Hero

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the begining of the play, Oedipus' heroism shows once more when he promises to end his city's terrible plague, a plague which has been destroying every living thing. He soon finds out that the only way to end the plague would be to identify King Laius murderer and either banish him or exile him. Oedipus vowed ...

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King

    2144 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ages his audience to investigate as Oedipus did and pursue the truth, fully accepting the consequences that follow.

    Read More

  • Oedipus Tragedy Analysis

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the story unfolds, a whole cast of puzzling characters is introduced in a gradual sequence stressing the degree of the complexity of the tangled events. In this respect, Oedipus discovers the death of the king of Thebes Laius; whose murderer he will know towards the end of the play. As a youngster Oedipus had been able to protect Thebes against the Sphinx. Additionally, the Oracle had predicted that Oedipus would marry

    Read More

  • Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles

    444 Words  | 1 Pages

    After Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, the people of Thebes become plagued. Oedipus’ feels responsible for saving the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ pride to save the city later turns to pity after he divulges the sin he has committed. His pride forces him to find the traitor who murdered Laius. He eventually finds out that he is the sinner and gouges his eyes out to prove that he is not worthy of sight.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: The Decline of Oedipus

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    The final trait that was Oedipus' greatest enemy throughout the entirety of the play was his own truthfulness.  Whenever new facts presented themselves, Oedipus gave them an honest look.  As soon as it was suspect that Oedipus was involved, he acknowledged it; "I think that I myself may be accurst by my own ignorant edict".

    Read More

  • Ignorance is Not Bliss in William Shakespeare´s Hamlet and Sophocles

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people believe that ignorance is bliss. There is a mentality that exists, where the truths are better off unknown and another where the truth is ignored completely. This is certainly true in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’’ Oedipus. Jocasta and Gertrude both choose to ignore reality, and therefore blind themselves from the truth before them. As a result of her intentional ignorance, Jocasta severely damages her relationship with Oedipus and her reputation, whereas Gertrude’s ignorance merely causes mild, repairable damage to her relationship with her son and her reputation. Therefore, Jocasta’s contentment in her ignorance inevitably results in a far more tragic ending, than that of Gertrude.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King: Not Guilty of Any Crime

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the tragedy comes to a close, the truth is revealed to Oedipus concerning his lineage and unnatural actions. Although the truth had been spoken to him about these matters previously, Oedipus had chosen not to believe and understandably so. True revelation comes to Oedipus through the same slave that had been ordered to kill him as a baby.

    Read More

  • Self-Discovery and the Pursuit of Truth in Sophocles' Oedipus

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Oedipus’ quest is revealed to him early on in the play, though it undergoes a number of transformations before he is actually examining his own life and heritage. He begins with the reasonable search for the motive behind the wave of death and destruction that has overcome Thebes. This leads into his search for the man who murdered Laius, and finally to Oedipus questioning his own innocence and origin. The final stage of his search is where he becomes most fervent, regretfully not considering the magnitude of the effect his discovery will have on him. In order to assess Oedipus’ search for truth, one must first look at each transformation separately before tying them together.

    Read More

More about Similarities Between Oedipus And Minority Report

Open Document