This article told the story of a man who was told he could not go through a door by a doorkeeper. He then sat and waited until he could go through the door and ended up waiting for the rest of his life. I feel like there is a deeper meaning than just waiting to go through a door. The man waited for some outside force to allow him to go through the door and didn't do anything himself. This is true about life. When you want something, you don't wait for it to just happen to you. If you truly want it, you will pursue it. Or if that door is unavailable, why not pursue another door? Perhaps the door that is being guarded is being guarded from you for a reason? Fortune or Karma or whatever you want to call it is looking out for you. This is not the place you are suppose to be. This is similar to going to college. You could have your heart set on being a doctor but you end up hating your medical classes. You find your passion in law and switch majors. Health, in this situation, is the first door. You think you will go through it but then something stops you. Find a new door. This simple story is a great life lesson that can apply to a number of different areas.
In this article, The Burial at Thebes, used separation of church and state to explain why Antigone did what she did. The writer talked a lot about morals and principals that people live by and how their actions are influenced. Antigone told Creon that no matter what he said, no matter the law, she abided by a god given principal, or divine law, that could not be overturned by man. Creon could not stop her from doing what she thought was right. This is something that we like to think we have the power to do in America. The first amendment covers freedom of speech and expression so we as Americas should have religious freedom to express ourselves. The article then talked about the separation of church and state. Religion is a choice, you can't force it upon anyone else. However, I don't think it's right to limit expression because you are afraid you will offend someone else. Like putting the ten commandments in a court house. If you don't believe in the ten commandments or that religion, that's fine, you don't have to get offended because it is in public. I can walk into someone's house and see a picture of the Beetles. Say I don't like the Beetles, I'm not going to make them take it down. Let people express themselves however they want. You don't like it, don't look at it. You don't like how a city council prays before each meeting, don't pray with them. Check twitter, facebook or play bubble witch. Allow others to have their freedom and excercise your's to not participate. You know who did that? Antigone. She stuck to her guns and did what she felt was right. She owned her decision and made it clear that she wouldn't budge.
Krutch's article titled, "A Tragic Fallacy" gave a viewpoint on tragedies that I have never heard or thought before. In a type of expression, tragedy is not falling into despair, but overcoming it. It also relates to the value of human life. What I am having trouble seeing is how every tragedy has a happy ending. I'm pretty sure the ending to Oedipus wasn't happy, I can't really see much good of what happened. If anything Oedipus' story lead to another tragedy. Krutch views tragedies as the struggle of people to overcome human nature. What I can make of this article is that people learn something throughout tragedies, about themselves and about the world. Creon at the end of Antigone saw the errors of his way and had a reflective moment. Sure his wife, son and soon to be step-daughter were all killed but he learned. Maybe this is where Krutch is getting the happy ending. People learn from these tragedies. I still disagree with calling the ending happy. For that to happen, the good would have to out weight the bad. The knowledge Creon learned, in my opinion, was not worth the lives of the three who died. Perhaps the what Creon learned made him a better ruler, making the kingdom a better place and breaking the cycle of tragedies. Krutch did say that every tragedy is happy in their own ways. Tragedy is an unavoidable part of life, it will always be present. The way you handle tragedy and what you learn for it is what makes it happy.
Antigone was the events that happened after the play Oedipus. When Oedipus died the throne of Thebes was left to Eteocles and Polynices. An oracle predicted that the two would kill each other, which was later made true when the brothers fought over the throne. Creon took control and decided to give Eteocles a proper burial but leave Polynices on the battle field to be eaten by bird. This is where the play begins. Antigone has the urge to burry Polynices, believing it was the right thing to do. Creon declared that anyone who buried Polynices would be sentenced to death. So, upon learning that Antigone buried Polynices, a bunch of drama started going on. Antigone refused to deny her actions and Ismene tried to take partial blame. Taking full responsibilities for her actions, she submits to Creon's will. She is then sealed in a cave to die. Creon later changes his mind and goes to find her but finds her dead. She had hung herself in the cave. Creon's son, Antigone's fiance, stabs himself and dies next to her. Creon's wife ends up committing suicide to after learning what he did. This story has a similar theme to that of Oedipus. An oracle predicts a tragedy and the tragedy happens. By the time Creon found out about this it was too late to save those who were destined to die. Comparing this to the TED 2 talk we watched I was wondering, did the characters have control over their actions? The idea that fate or fortune dictates what people do is a common theme throughout these plays. It seems like whatever the oracles predict happens. People in tragedy's seem to have control over their actions but ultimately end up in the same place as fate wants them to.
This past TED talk was very interesting to me. I liked the message the speaker gave and thought the topic was interesting to think about. Are we in control of what we do and how we act? The most interesting segment of his talk was the one that talked about the newspaper subscription. This roots from the dissuasion of rome vs paris. When people have a choice to go to rome or paris it is about 50/50. However, when you add the option, Rome without coffee and change Rome to, Rome with coffee, a there was a huge spike in people who wanted to go to rome with coffee. The point is, a third option with less than one of the options at the same price makes the one with more seem more desirable. People think they can get more for less when really the choice is exactly the same as it was. I then thought, do characters in tragedies suffer from a similar fate? Oedipus however went to Thebes because he thought he was preventing his parents deaths when really he was adopted. It takes an ironic twist of trying to avoid a prophecy went ultimately he helped fulfill it. Outside forces control a lot of what happens. In this story oracles and prophets call this fortune which sounds like luck or karma. It is by chance that these things happen. I agree and disagree with this. I feel like everything happens for a reason but you can decide how to act in these situations. You can't change the fact that you get rear ended in your car but you can decide how to react to the situation. Oedipus couldn't help the fact that he traveled to Thebes to try to save who he thought was his parents. However, he could have choose to not kill the old man, who was his father, which made the prophecy true.
Oedipus is a play about the man named Oedipus. The story of Oedipus is a strange one. Oedipus was the son of a King and Queen. The King received news from an oracle that someday his son would kill him and hook up with his wife. Upon receiving this new, The King put holes in Oedipus' feet and ordered him to be killed. The servant in charge of all this did not kill him but gave him away so he could live his life. Oedipus was then raised by a King and Queen of a neighboring kingdom. Once Oedipus was grown he too received the same prophecy that his father had received many moons ago. He would kill his father, marry his mother, end up blind and die alone. Not wanting to cause harm to his parents (or who he thought was his real parents) Oedipus left. Coincidently, he ended up on the road back to the kingdom where he was born. On the way back he encountered an old man traveling with his servants. The man was super grumpy and tried to hurry Oedipus along by poking him with his old man stick. Oedipus became enraged by the old man and killed the man and his servants (except for one) and continuing on his way to the city. He defeats the sphnx and marries the queen. Later he finds out that the old man he killed was his dad and he married his mom, fulfilling the prophecy. He does what anyone would have done at this point and gauges out his eyes and exiles himself from the city. He takes his daughters, who end up dying, and is struck by lightning in old age. This story is a tragedy. Oedipus started from the bottom, became a king, and then lost everything. His life down spiraled until he had nothing left but death. This play that we read was suppose to entertain people. This goes along with the idea that people like to watch horrible things happen to people so long as they know there is no chance of it happening to themselves. This story kind of goes along with the "common man" article we read. Oedipus started as a common man but also is in a high position when tragedy strikes.
Tragedy is typically thought of as a story with a sad or unhappy ending. You typically think that a person who has a lot of is in a position of high authority is someone who would be more susceptible to a tragedy in their lives. After reading Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man" I believe that a normal person has an equally as high chance of falling victim to a tragedy. Miller traces back why this can happen to anyone and then writes that tragedy, "is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." (23-24) It all comes back to society and our place in it. We are all given a status at birth called an inscribed status. From there how we are perceived in society is based of the choices we make and what we accomplish. This is called an achieved status. People, whether they admit it or not, strive to be accepted in society and to uphold their personal dignity. In a society norms exist; there are those who abide by them and those who do not. Miller argues that an element of tragedy occurs when a man/woman measures themselves against what appears to be an unchangeable society and things do not measure up right. The idea of tragedy can be as great as losing a loved one or as small as being made fun of at work. The attack on the self is what causes the tragedy. A man who works at McDonalds can experience the same feeling after being fired as the King when his daughter is killed by a dragon. The man has less to lose but when he loses it, it is even more devastating.
The Ted talk we watched in class was one of the best ones I have seen. The speaker started by defining success in careers and in life; those who obtain it and those who fall short. In Europe one who is seen as falling short of a successful life is considered unfortunate. Fortune did not look brightly upon that individual person. It makes it seem as though fortune or luck determines whether or not a person will be successful, which is an interesting thought. It also means that an individual does not have control over where they will end up in life, that it will be dictated by things out of their control. In America these people are referred to as losers or people who didn't try in life. This approach says a person has control over their lives and their actions and preparation determine where they end up. If they don't end up in the job they want or in a successful position then it is because they didn't do what was necessary to get their. It is all their fault, they have lost. Personally I feel like neither approach is correct. Success comes when preparation meets opportunity. You need to work hard and have the necessary skills and qualifications when the chance arrives. There is an amount of luck but one's actions is also needed.
By definition, a tragedy is an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe. The literature definition is similar: a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character. Either way, something bad happens to someone. What's interesting is that people find amusement from watching the suffering of others. Hamlet was a very successful play and it ends (spoiler alert) with almost the entire cast of characters dying. What is strange to me is how people can find enjoyment watching something happen to someone that they never would wish upon themselves. There's some about a tragedy that people just can't seem to get enough of. Perhaps the feeling it invokes while watched. Being able to observe someone's situation and know that it won't be happening to you. Tragedy is present in books other than ones that are defined as "Tragedies." I mean, tragedy could be applied when the main characters dad dies. It's not the main issue/problem of the novel and it isn't a part of the resolution but it is indeed a tragedy. Stories like, "Romeo and Juliet" are tragedies. They both end up dead due to mishaps and family hatred. Macbeth is a tragedy, there is death and loss and if you were actually there you probably wouldn't like what was happening to you. Tragedy is also represented in the two masks which represent the difference in genre between comedy and tragedy.
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