Humanity is not perfect, and this is especially apparent in literature; many authors will utilize their protagonist’s imperfections and illusions in order to highlight the theme of their work. In Oedipus Rex, the protagonist, Oedipus, spends the entire story attempting to flee from his fate given to him by the oracle. By doing this, however, he unknowingly causes the prophecy to be fulfilled. In The Revelation, Mrs. Turpin’s arrogant and judgmental nature causes her to get labeled as an old wart hog from hell, leading to a reflection on her world view and ending in her revelation. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses the perpetuation of Oedipus’ arrogance to show that one’s destiny is predetermined while Flannery O’Connor uses the destruction of
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When accusing Teiresias, the blind prophet, of lying about who killed the king he says, “When that hellcat the Sphinx was performing here,/ What help were you . . . But I came by,/ Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing-/ I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!/ And this is the man you think you can destroy,/ That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king” (Sophocles 377-386)! Oedipus, in his arrogance, does not make the connection between the prophecies he has heard in the past and the claim of the prophet. His hubris makes him think he avoided the original prophecy by fleeing Corinth, where he thought his parents were. This arrogance inevitably leads to his downfall when he finally realizes what he has done. In agony, he yells, “I, Oedipus,/ Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,/ Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand” (Sophocles 1121-1123)! This is the point when Oedipus realizes his attempts at avoiding his prophecy were futile. This is how Sophocles uses Oedipus’ arrogance to show that one’s prophecy cannot be avoided. No matter what someone does, much like Oedipus, they cannot avoid their predetermined fate. Much like Mrs. Turpin in The Revelation, Oedipus has a revelation when he realizes he could not escape his fate. Mrs Turpin also has a revelation involving fate in a …show more content…
Turpin is very arrogant. She thinks she is better than everyone else because she goes to church and has a good disposition, but she spends a large portion of her time judging others. “She was not white trash, just common. Sometimes Mrs. Turpin occupied herself at night naming the classes of people. On the bottom of the heap were most colored people . . . then next to them -- not above, just away from -- were the white-trash” (O’Connor 2). Mrs. Turpin is under the illusion that if one goes to church, worships God, owns some land, and does a decent amount of work they are somehow better than everyone else. In reality, this is not true as she finds out later when she has a vision of the fate that everyone shares when they die. She has a vision of stairs leading to Heaven, with, as she describes, “whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right” (O’Connor 9). After this vision she realizes that everyone is equal under God. Even though she goes to church and has a “good disposition,” she is no better than anyone else. It is the destruction of her arrogant and judgmental nature, this illusion that she is
When accusing Teiresias, the blind prophet, of lying about who killed the king he says, “When that hellcat the Sphinx was performing here,/ What help were you . . . But I came by,/ Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing-/ I thought it out for myself, no birds helped me!/ And this is the man you think you can destroy,/ That you may be close to Kreon when he’s king” (Sophocles 377-386)! Oedipus, in his arrogance, does not make the connection between the prophecies he has heard in the past and the claim of the prophet. His hubris makes him think he avoided the original prophecy by fleeing Corinth, where he thought his parents were. This arrogance inevitably leads to his downfall when he finally realizes what he has done. In agony, he yells, “I, Oedipus,/ Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,/ Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand” (Sophocles 1121-1123)! This is the point when Oedipus realizes his attempts at avoiding his prophecy were futile. This is how Sophocles uses Oedipus’ arrogance to show that one’s prophecy cannot be avoided. No matter what someone does, much like Oedipus, they cannot avoid their predetermined fate. Much like Mrs. Turpin in The Revelation, Oedipus has a revelation when he realizes he could not escape his fate. Mrs Turpin also has a revelation involving fate in a …show more content…
Turpin is very arrogant. She thinks she is better than everyone else because she goes to church and has a good disposition, but she spends a large portion of her time judging others. “She was not white trash, just common. Sometimes Mrs. Turpin occupied herself at night naming the classes of people. On the bottom of the heap were most colored people . . . then next to them -- not above, just away from -- were the white-trash” (O’Connor 2). Mrs. Turpin is under the illusion that if one goes to church, worships God, owns some land, and does a decent amount of work they are somehow better than everyone else. In reality, this is not true as she finds out later when she has a vision of the fate that everyone shares when they die. She has a vision of stairs leading to Heaven, with, as she describes, “whole companies of white trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes, and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right” (O’Connor 9). After this vision she realizes that everyone is equal under God. Even though she goes to church and has a “good disposition,” she is no better than anyone else. It is the destruction of her arrogant and judgmental nature, this illusion that she is