Comparing Oedipus The King And Fences

Oedipus the King, also known by the title Oedipus Rex, is a tragedy written by Sophocles where the main character is a tragic hero. One of the salient ideas in the play was that of blindness to reality; Teiresias, the man who is literally blind, is able to see the horror right in front of him, but Oedipus, with both eyes at work, is not able to see the truth at all until the end of the play. This blindness is seen in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson, where the main characters Willy and Troy are not able to see the change that time has wreaked upon their worlds. Willy is a failed salesman with high hopes for his sons, and Troy is a garbage collector whose dream was to become a professional baseball player. In both of these books, the main characters possess a metaphorical blindness to reality that results in the permanent detriment of

Biff is extremely affected by his father’s myopia; in high school, he was a star athlete who was recruited by various universities and colleges. However, like Troy, Willy ignores Bernard and his worries about Biff:“What’re you talking about? With scholarships to three universities they’re gonna flunk him?” (Miller 19). Due to the excessive pride that his father forced onto him, he flunked math, which nullified his chance into getting into a good school: “And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody!” (Miller 96). Later on, we learn that Biff could have made up the class, but chose not to because he learned about Willy’s affair with “the Woman”: You—you gave her Mama’s stockings! … You fake! You phony little fake! You fake! (Overcome, he turns quickly and weeping fully goes out with his suitcase. Willy is left on the floor on his knees)” (Miller 87). Thus, not only does Willy’s blindness toward reality affect himself, but others