Oedipus Journal #1

How writers arrest the reader's attention.

Often times writer's create intense moments in their works where figurative language, tension, conflict, and other literary techniques are used.  In my opinion the best literary techniques used to arrest the reader's attention are conflict, figurative language/intense description.  In Oedipus the King, there is a part on page 206 where Oedipus is describing what he has done.  It reads "Now, Jocasta, I will tell you all.  Making my way toward this triple crossroad I began to see a herald, then a brace of colts drawing a wagon, and mounted on the bench... a man, just as you;ve described him, coming face-to-face, and the one in the lead and the old man himself were about to thrust me off the road--brute force-- and the one shouldering me aside, the driver, I strike him in anger!-and the old man, watching me coming up along his wheels-he brings down his prod, two prongs straight at my head! I paid him back with interest! Short work, by god- with one blow of the staff in his right hand I knowck him out of his high seat, roll him out of the wagon, sprawling headlong-I killed them all-every mother's son!"  As you can see, there is an intense moment of description(syntax and diction), and conflict.  These two literary elements draw the reader's attention.  This is an important point in the play, where Oedipus realizes what he has done.  That he has possibly killed his father, the king.
        Similar to this moment of conflict in Oedipus the king,  Albert Camus uses great description in The Stranger when Meursault kills the Arabian,  "the Arab drew his knife and held it up to me in the sun. The light shot off the steel and it was like a long flashing blade cutting at my forehead. At the same instant the sweat in my eyebrows dripped down over my eyelids all at once and covered them with a warm, thick film. My eyes were blinded behind the curtain of tears and salt. All I could feel were the cymbals of sunlight crashing on my forehead and, indistinctly, the dazzling spear flying up from the knife in front of me. The scorching blade slashed at my eyelashes and stabbed at my stinging eyes. That’s when everything began to reel. The sea carried up a thick, fiery breath. It seemed to me as if the sky split open from one end to the other to rain down fire. My whole being tensed and I squeeze my hand around the revolver. The trigger gave."  This excerpt also includes intense use of figurative language as well as conflict.  "The light shot off the steel and it was like a long flashing blade cutting at my forehead", this plays off the readers senses.  The sense of touch as well as the sense of sight.  The use of figurative language to describe the scene creates a certain tone.  One of panic, Meursault panics because of how sharp and bright the sun is as well as the knife the Arabian weilds.  As we can see, both Camus and Sophocles use moments of conflict and great description to entice the reader.  Both also use these elements to portray more elements such as tone, which can lead to a specific theme which is trying to be portrayed.