Oedipus Journal #3

Point of View/Characters

The story of Oedipus the king is told from the third person objective point of view.  This point of view does not change throughout the story.  I feel that the narrative voice is pretty reliable.  However because the narrative voice cannot tell us all that the characters think or why they act the way they do it makes the voice less reliable.  This also could be important because it allows everyone to make their own assumptions about the characters, as well as why they do what they do, and allows some people to relate more with certain characters that are more important.  As I have somewhat mentioned, the reader doesn’t get to know the characters too well.  We don’t know their thoughts, and they do not speak their thoughts out loud such as in Shakespeare’s Othello where Iago speaks his thoughts and desires out loud in different scenes and or settings.  Some of the characters such as Oedipus, Tiresias, the messenger, and the shepherd seem like credible characters from the way they use words and speak.  Jocasta and Creon seem more mischevious.  Jocasta seems to have known more then she said she does about the prophecy, and Creon seems like he just desires the crown.  Sophocles presents the characters and their character traits through each character’s use of language.  Generally Oedipus uses long sentences using many words to answer questions, explain what is happening and other things.  This could be to make him seem more knowledgeable and a more capable leader.  Creon  and Jocasta use more short answers then long answers, and this creates a feeling of mischievous actions or scheming.  Sophocles persuades us to like or sympathize with the characters again through their actions and words  As I have explained before, the words and actions that the characters use and do create this attraction to some characters such as the shepherd or repulsion to other characters.  In my opinion Creon is repulsive just because he seems like a scheming backstabbing kind of shifty character.

Is it in human nature to always desire the truth?  If so, is this a flaw in our human nature?

Is Oedipus still a good person even though he unkownly fulfilled the prophecy?

Why does Jocasta want Oedipus to end his quest for the truth?

Is the motif of blindness used to express a specific theme?

Why does Sophocles use a struggle between those with power and those who lack it?