In the plays The Cure at Troy and How I Learned to Drive, issues with the body are the driving forces that define the course of each of the plays. In these plays we encounter principal characters who suffer from injuries and dissatisfaction with their bodies being the sources of both physical and emotional pain. Therefore, the basis of this essay is to show how in both plays, The Cure at Troy and How I Learned to Drive, the principal characters who suffer from issues with their bodies are vulnerable to “predators” who want to take advantage of them.
In the play The Cure at Troy, Sophocles presents us a tragedy about pain and suffering through Philoctetes. Philoctetes was a great warrior who suffers from a deeply painful wound on the foot. …show more content…
Philoctetes’ physical pain is conspicuous, while the emotional pain is implied through his dialogues where he expresses how hurt he feels for being abandoned: “Don’t treat me like an untouchable. What I am is what I was made into by the traitors.” (Heaney 15). Meanwhile, the physical repugnance rather than pain Li’l Bit felt was when Peck touched her the very first time: “That day was the last day I lived in my body. I retreated above the neck, and I’ve lived inside the fire in my head ever since.” (Vogel 90). Regarding the emotional pain Li’l Bit experiences is the aversion to her body because of the jokes others …show more content…
In The Cure at Troy, the antagonist, Odysseus, wants to take advantage of Philoctetes’ condition and steal his miraculous bow to win the war. In order to do this, Odysseus corrupts Neoptolemus’ honesty and integrity, and together they plan to trick Philoctetes with a false story. Surprisingly, we later learn about Odysseus’ opportunist personality when Neoptelemus reveals that he took possession of his father armor. Meanwhile, in How I Learned to Dive Peck is a depraved man who takes advantage of Li’l Bit’s innocence. Uncle Peck is depicted as an expressive, charismatic man who shows deep interest in Li’l Bits education and teaches her to drive, while also demonstrating a little too much interest on her. When her family bothers Li’l Bit with comments about her body, only Peck shields her from the insults. Nevertheless, we see how wicked Peck is when he convinces Li’l Bit to do the photoshoot and when he takes Bobby to fish saying to both of them: “It’s a secret, you can’t tell anybody… This is something special just between you and me.” (Vogel
In the play The Cure at Troy, Sophocles presents us a tragedy about pain and suffering through Philoctetes. Philoctetes was a great warrior who suffers from a deeply painful wound on the foot. …show more content…
Philoctetes’ physical pain is conspicuous, while the emotional pain is implied through his dialogues where he expresses how hurt he feels for being abandoned: “Don’t treat me like an untouchable. What I am is what I was made into by the traitors.” (Heaney 15). Meanwhile, the physical repugnance rather than pain Li’l Bit felt was when Peck touched her the very first time: “That day was the last day I lived in my body. I retreated above the neck, and I’ve lived inside the fire in my head ever since.” (Vogel 90). Regarding the emotional pain Li’l Bit experiences is the aversion to her body because of the jokes others …show more content…
In The Cure at Troy, the antagonist, Odysseus, wants to take advantage of Philoctetes’ condition and steal his miraculous bow to win the war. In order to do this, Odysseus corrupts Neoptolemus’ honesty and integrity, and together they plan to trick Philoctetes with a false story. Surprisingly, we later learn about Odysseus’ opportunist personality when Neoptelemus reveals that he took possession of his father armor. Meanwhile, in How I Learned to Dive Peck is a depraved man who takes advantage of Li’l Bit’s innocence. Uncle Peck is depicted as an expressive, charismatic man who shows deep interest in Li’l Bits education and teaches her to drive, while also demonstrating a little too much interest on her. When her family bothers Li’l Bit with comments about her body, only Peck shields her from the insults. Nevertheless, we see how wicked Peck is when he convinces Li’l Bit to do the photoshoot and when he takes Bobby to fish saying to both of them: “It’s a secret, you can’t tell anybody… This is something special just between you and me.” (Vogel