Whose Fault Is it? Can this teach us anything about history?
*Argue which character/s from both Oedipus the King and The Great Gatsby caused the most problems for the tragic circumstances. There is not one correct answer, but be prepared to defend using quotes from both texts.
*You may wish to incorporate if characters may be like our own leaders or leaders in history as part of your response.
You may discuss any segment of the play/novel, including the end.
Please take into considering societal, historical, and.or gender roles in your response (or you may have other ideas).
For full credit, you MUST have quotations as support of your points, you MUST show reading and avoid online summary info, you MUST respond to a minimum of 2 posts. Points will be deducted for those students who wait until the last 12-24 hours, for spelling problems, repeating information already stated, confusing responses, attacking classmates verbally, simply agreeing without saying much of anything, or off-topic commentary.
------Having support from databases may be given additional credit if used well----
DATABASES ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS BLOG, but your argument will be judged harshly, so be prepared to defend yourself!
**This blog will end at noon on 11/18. Remember that starting on the last 12-24 hours prior will result in loss of points since your discussion will be limited.
While the main characters from both stories have caused factors that have led to the cause of the tragic circumstance. Within the story there is one character who has almost caused it almost single handedly through his actions. Oedipus, within the story Oedipus is searching for the man who has killed the late king Laius in cold blood. As Oedipus begins to investigate the event more he learns of the son Laius had that was prophesized to kill the king himself. "I do not say. From Phoebus' self, but his ministers. That so it should befall, whom he should die. By a son's hand"(Sophocles,1980,p.39). Now by hearing this it sends Oedipus into a state of deep thought as he was told the same thing as a child. " At the board a drunken fellow. Over his cup called me a changeling; And I, being indignant- all that day. Hardly refrained - but on the morrow went. And taxed my parents with it to their face: Saying I should wed my mother, and produce a race intolerable for me to see, And be my natural father's murderer". ( Sophocles,1980,p.43). Oedipus does not believe any of this to become true for he had left the town of his mother and father long ago. It later becomes true that Oedipus is in fact the son of Laius and Jocasta. With it then being revealed that Oedipus had killed the king Laius on his way to the city the first part of the drunken man's prophecy has come true. Oedipus has also married his own mother Jocasta proving the second part right. With the knowledge of this Jocasta cannot live she goes into the palace and takes her life. learning of this news Oedipus cannot bare to see what he has created and stabbed both of his eyes out with pins so he may become blind. This no fulfills all three parts of the prophecy and leads to the downfall of the great king Oedipus. Oedipus now turns all power over to Creon and asks for Creon to kill him.
ReplyDeleteWith both stories showing elements of the main character causing the problems that lead to the tragic element within the story. One character almost causes it single handedly.
In Oedipus the King Oedipus is the cause of his own tragic troubles, although he did not realize it at the time that he was the murderer of Laius. Even after Jocasta told him of the prophecy that Laius had heard and Oedipus heard the same one that Oedipus was to kill his father and marry his mother. But He did not know he was adopted. "I am the son of Polybus of Corinth,And of a Dorian mother, Merope."(Sophocles,1980,p.42). So when he slayed Laius he did not realize he fulfilled what was told to him. If Jocasta and Laius did not get rid of him at three days old he might have been able to stop the tragic events "While from our son's birth not three days went by before, with ankles pinned, he cast him out, by hands of others, on a pathless moor."(Sophocles, 1980,p.39). But then in the Great Gatsby I see Jay as the cause of his tragic ending. His undying love for Daisy is his ultimate downfall. If he hadn't sought her out after five years while she was married to another man he would not have had Daisy driving his car and she would not have killed Myrtle. If that would not have happened then then Myrtle's husband would not have sought revenge."He grew quieter and began to talk about the yellow car. He announced that he had a way of finding out whom the yellow car belonged to,"(Fitzgerald, 2004, p.156). Wilson suspected his wife was having an affair with whoever killed her. Jay Gatsby loved Daisy but she was married to Tom and she would not be leaving him like Gatsby wanted. Tom would not let that happen, He told Wilson that Gatsby had the car he was looking for. "I told him the truth...He came to the door while we were getting ready to leave...He was crazy enough to kill me if I hadn't told him who owned the car.His hand was on the revolver in his pocket every minute he was in the house...What if I did tell him? That fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did Daisy's."(Fitzgerald,2004,p.178). Even though Tom told Wilson where to find Gatsby, if Gatsby would never had seen Daisy again he would not have died.
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ReplyDeleteIn Oedipus the King and The Great Gatsby, the characters that have caused the most problems for tragic circumstances are Oedipus, Tom, and Daisy. In The Great Gatsby when George comes to Tom to find out who owns the yellow car, Tom reveals that it was Gatsby, knowing full well George’s deranged mental state and his intentions to murder the car owner.Tom says “I told him the truth… That fellow had it coming to him..He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stopped his car.(Fitzgerald, 1925,pg 178). Furthermore, Tom fails to mention important details about the accident like the fact that it was Daisy driving the car, in order to pin the blame on Gatsby. It is obvious that Tom knew about Daisy’s involvement in the car accident because of his decision to leave town the day after the incident. Nick says “I called up Daisy an hour after we found him..But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them”(Fitzgerald, 1925, pg 164). Daisy can also, be blamed because of her lack of morals. Daisy should have stopped the car immediately after she hit Myrtle, but instead she kept on driving, even increasing her speed. Gatsby said, “Anyhow—Daisy stepped on it. I tried to make her stop, but she couldn't so I pulled on the emergency brake. Then she fell over into my lap and I drove on” (Fitzgerald,1925,pg 151). After the accident, Daisy should have admitted her mistake and taken responsibility for the actions, but instead she chose to let Gatsby take the heat for her carelessness while she made plans to leave town. At the end of Chapter VII, Nick sees Daisy and Tom sitting at their kitchen table and that Tom “ was talking across the table at her..and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together”(Fitzgerald, 1925, pg 145).No doubt about their plan to literally leave their problems behind the next day. Daisy’s failure to come clean causes George to assume that Gatsby was driving the car and ultimately leads to his murder.
ReplyDeleteIn Oedipus the King, Oedipus lack of self-knowledge causes problems. When he hears the story of how the king, Laius, was brutally murdered, Oedipus wants to get to the bottom of the story and find the person who is guilty. He never considers himself a suspect, even though he knows he murdered a man not very long ago. “When in my travels I was come near this place where three roads meet,there.. A man that rode in a colt-carriage, and from the track the leader.. the old man himself, would thrust me. I, being enraged strike him who jostled me..Watching as I was passing, from the car with his goads fork smote me upon the head. Smitten by the staff in this right hand of mine, I slay them all!”(Sophocles, 1980,pg 44).When Oedipus is confronted by Tiresias about the murder of Laius, he is shocked and appalled that someone would say such a thing about him. He becomes outraged and says to Tiresias, “Not without chastisement shall you, twice over, utter wounds!”(Sophocles, 1980, pg 20). Oedipus then goes on to blame Creon as well ‘ Are these inventions Creon's work, or yours?”(Sophocles,1980,pg 21). This shows that Oedipus cannot look inside himself to find the truth, and he does not want to know the truth about himself so he ends up blaming others for his crime.