Leon Brown, an outfielder for the New York Mets once said, “No one has power over you unless you give it to them, you are in control of your life and your choices decide your own fate.” In Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, Oedipus shows that anyone can control the direction they put their life towards as long as they make the right choices, such as Oedipus committing murder, deciding to not look into his past, and losing him temper, but everyone has certain factors that will happen to them that is beyond their control. Oedipus may have never wanted to kill his father, but he made the choice of killing a man at the crossroad in which he later found out was his father.
The only person or thing that can take control over your life is yourself.
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Some uncontrollable factors that slows someone down could be living in poverty, being poor, the color of your skin, having your parents sent to prison for committing a crime, having parents or loved ones die, being an adopted or fostered child, or the gender you are born with. Being a minority or a female, or both, can slow down the direction they decide to put their life towards due to people being either racist or sexist. Reasons that originate from uncontrollable factors that could make an individual angry at the society they live in could be racism, sexism, or economic troubles. Being able to overcome these obstacles without turning to violence, vandalism, or any other unacceptable behavior will prove that someone has enough self-control to decide the difference between right and wrong. Oedipus didn’t have much self-control and consequently he lost his tempe and screamed, “You planned it, you had it done, you all but [k]illed him with your own hands… the crime was yours and yours alone,” when Teiresias wouldn’t give him information about King Laïos’ death (50). He was hot headed whenever things didn’t go his way. Another instance of his rage played into the death of his father after his charioteer forced Oedipus off the road, “But as this charioteer lurched over towards me I struck him in my rage… I killed them all” (64). If Oedipus had