Comparing Truth In Oedipus The King And Minority Report

Truth is one of the most desirable things. Yet, often times humans can not tell the difference between lies and reality. Living under a falsehood would seem normal to people living on a lie for it is the truth to them. Sophocles and Steven Spielberg emphasize this point in their literature: Oedipus the King and Minority Report. The truth can shatter a human's illusion about the world they are living in . The main characters from both pieces of literature were utterly blinded by their ambitions, that they didn't expect the truth to change their views of themselves and of the world around them. Both Oedipus and John Anderton are incapable to see the truth because they are too determined to realize it. Oedipus is too concerned with bringing

They were both in utter shock. When Oedipus finally accepts the truth, he is surprised that the prophecy became true. After all he did to avoid his fate, it happened exactly like the prophecy. Sophocles uses blindness to represent the irony of Oedipus. In the beginning, Oedipus is “[able to] see and still [is] blind” to the truth (Sophocles 23). He refused to listen to Tiresias and tried to run away from his prophecy. After accepting the truth, Oedipus blinds himself and becomes physically blind. Technically, Oedipus was blind throughout the entire play. It is evident that Oedipus is ashamed. He acknowledges that he made fatal mistakes for his “self-dyed in sin” (74). During this scene, Oedipus mocks himself indicating his regrets. He did not want his kids to become like his hatred selves. The truth affected not only himself, but also his loved ones. All he wanted was to bring back peace to Thebes, but instead found out who he really was. When John Anderton found out about PreCrimes flaw, he was completely stunned. He completely presumed that the Precog’s saw “what will have happened” (Spielberg). He truly believed in the system. When Iris told him that the Precog’s are not always accurate, he immediately thought about all the innocent people he might have arrested. John felt guilty for arresting people because there was a probability that they . The truth made Oedipus and John aware of their

For Oedipus, his kingdom felt unworthy because he exclaims, “Expel me quickly, purge me far from Thebes” (Sophocles 76). He wanted to leave Thebes for he was the cause of all the suffering. Ultimately Oedipus was ashamed at what he had done to his beloved kingdom. He was the reason Laius and Jocasta died. Due to his ignorance, Oedipus blinds himself because “all that’s sweet has parted from [his] vision” (Sophocles 73). He lost his purpose in life because all of the joys he had in his life vanished in an instant. This evinces how pathetic the mighty Oedipus had become. After the finding the truth, Oedipus becomes fragile and stops thinking ahead. He starts making decisions based on his emotions instead of being responsible for himself. On the other hand, when he understands that PreCrime is not always just, he tries to shut down the program. John, then, lives life optimistically because he finds out that he can change his own fate. He moves on from the loss of his son and remarries his wife. He also discovered the truth when he listened to Agatha saying “ you can change your destiny if you know it” (Speilberg) . John was able to change his destiny and not kill Crowe. Even though Crowe ended up dead, John was able to alter it for a brief time. From this experience John learns about PreCrime's flaw, one can have a different