'How To Read Literature Like A Professor'

290 Words2 Pages
The story "Oedipus the King", is built based on symbols such as scarred feet, crossroads, and events that represent a fateful death and troublesome consequences that a prophecy brings into the life of Oedipus. In "How to Read Literature like a Professor"by Thomas C. Foster chapter 12,"Is that a symbol?", states how authors create symbols for readers to interpret based on their values, education, gender, and imagination leading to multiple meanings. Many times readers expect symbols to mean "one something in particular"(Foster) and unlike the story of Oedipus's prophecy, symbols such as the three way crossroads allow many different interpretations to play in. The three way crossroads is important to the story as it can signify Oedipus fateful