Oedipus The King Nature Essays - Oedipus The King, Oedipus

Oedipus The King Nature The Blind nature of Oedipus One of the main themes in Oedipus the King is blindness. Not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. This issue is an effective contrasting method for Oedipus at different points in the play. By saying "blindness", however, is a little misleading. It can be broken down into two sections: Oedipus's ability to "see", and his willingness to "see". The word "see" can be used in both contexts. Throughout the play, these two details are always at the center of the play. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect sight or vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past, which relates to the idea of "truth v.s. appearance". He desperately wants to know, and to understand, but he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be to overcome the blindness. Ironically, into the play is introduced a prophet, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who has great mental power. This justifies Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot. Brocco 2 Oedipus does have tragic flaws, which are standard in the Greek tragedies. Oedipus has a tragic flaw, which brings him to his end. Although it cannot be summed up into one word, there is evidence that his flaw may be ignorance or blindness to his own fate. This is true because we see Oedipus trying to avoid his fate, which was that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, but he ran away from his homeland. Only if he had stayed then he may have been able to try to take his fate into his own hands, but instead he fulfilled the prophecy. Oedipus had changed dramatically throughout the end of the play. After realizing his flaw of fleeing his fate and actually killing his father, he was desperate to find the truth. In his case though, he wanted to see the truth and he finally got that chance. After marrying his mother and becoming aware of all that had happened he went into despair. After knowing that he couldn't see the truth and wasn't aware to understand what happened, he made himself blind. He didn't want to see the truth and he wanted to run away after all that has happened in his life. Tiresias told Oedipus his fate and predicted his physical blindness would soon come forth, "You are a poor wretch to taunt me with the very insults which everyone soon will heap upon yourself" (lines 408 - 410). He said this because of Oedipus' attitude towards it. This was when he didn't want to believe a blind man, a man that couldn't see what he could see and he thought Tiresias wouldn't be able to understand everything that was going on. Unfortunately for Oedipus he was completely wrong. This is where the roles are reversed and he becomes the blind man who has seen more than he wanted to. Brocco 3 It is evident that he is more reluctant to accept his fate than in the beginning of the play. This goes along with the fact that him blinding himself is dramatically appropriate. This was due to the fact that he didn't want to know the truth anymore and wanted to get away in a sense. Oedipus the King was Sophocles' attempt to show the Greek God's that they could not avoid the dealings of the gods, or they may be forced to have a plot against the people he should love the most. Jocasta, his mother/wife, was in this way, a victim. Even though she brought it upon herself, by not telling Oedipus that she knew of his fate, it was at this moment when she became aware of her punishment. In desperation at this point, she kills herself. Oedipus the King is a true tragedy in the sense that fate and Oedipus' own tragic flaw combined through the play to bring about his downfall. What makes it much more tragic though is that the events were, for the most part, out of Oedipus' control. When Oedipus speaks to Jocasta, it is very clear that she knows about his fate and what just might happen if he finds out. He basically says to her, How can you say that, when the clues to my birth are in my hands? The only

Comparative Analysis of the Literary Work, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the Artistic Works of Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, Better Known as Balthus Essays

Comparative Analysis of the Literary Work, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the Artistic Works of Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, Better Known as Balthus Essays Comparative Analysis of the Literary Work, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the Artistic Works of Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, Better Known as Balthus Paper Comparative Analysis of the Literary Work, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the Artistic Works of Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, Better Known as Balthus Paper Essay Topic: Lolita Comparative Analysis of the Literary work, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and the Artistic Works of Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, Better Known as Balthus Lolita is written as a memoir in the first person by its main character, Humbert Humbert. This is a story that could be viewed in two very different ways, two very different perspectives. One could look at it as a story of a middle age pedophile as evidenced by the quote â€Å"Humbert Humbert is without question an honest-to-God, open-and-shut sexual deviant, displaying classic ruthlessness, guile and above all attention to detail. And the other, of a middle aged man in anguish over his love for a prepubescent girl, a forbidden love. â€Å"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in sl acks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita. â€Å" I chose to view this work as the later. To me it showed a middle aged man trapped in a moral dilemma. A statement from the first page of the book best says how I feel about the story. â€Å"Lolita is not about sex, but about love. Almost every page sets forth some explicit, erotic emotion or some erotic action and still it is not about sex. It is love†. Nabokov started writing Lolita in 1949 and finished in 1954. When he finished his work he had a hard time getting it published. Publishers were nervous about printing a book supposedly narrated by a pedophile. Four American publishers turned him down before he was finally able to get it published by Olympia Press of Paris and in 1958 in America. Controversy over the book only increased its readership and sales rose. To understand this controversy you need to understand the story and further understand why I considered it to be more of a tragic love interest rather than the perceived pornographic pedophile story thought of by others. The story starts out with a boyhood Humbert having his first taste of a love affair with the love of his young life, Annabel. They laugh, sneak around and display affection like young lovers do, but after three months Annabel dies of typhus and leaves a broken hearted Humbert. Though Humbert experiences relationships throughout his adult life he always feels hollow, like something is missing. Though he grows in age he still yearns for his young love. Humbert takes to fantasizing about young girls and goes as far as sitting in parks just to view the girls to get a glance of a â€Å"nymphet†. Humbert didn’t just want any young girl; she had to have certain traits that made her a â€Å"nymphet†, his â€Å"nymphet†. His criterion was a girl between nine and fourteen but as he states in his memoirs â€Å"Between those ages, are all girls nymphets? Of course not. Otherwise we, who are in the know, we lone voyagers, we nympholepts, would long have gone insane. Neither are good looks any criterion. A true nymphet is strikingly inferior to that of provisionally plain, just nice or â€Å"cute† or even â€Å"sweet â€Å"or attractive little girl. You have to be an artist, and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, with a bubble of hot poison in your loins in order to discern at once, by ineffable signs the little deadly demon that I deem a nymphet. † Humbert marries and tries to suppress his desire; he becomes bored with his married life and in the same time frame discovers his wife is having an affair. This leads him to divorce her and leave Paris and move to America. Once there, while looking for a place to stay he visits a home with a room to rent, the Haze home. While looking over the house Humbert is not impressed and is looking for a way to leave but during his tour of the house spots Dolores Haze, Lo, Lola, Lolita, the 12 year old daughter of the home owner, Charlotte Haze, Big Haze. He is struck; she is the nymphet that he has been searching for. Humbert agrees to rent the room, to be near his nymphet. Humbert proceeds to try to win Lo’s affection while Lo’s mother wishes to win Humberts’ affection. He ends up marrying â€Å"Big Haze†, Lo’s mother to get near her. Big Haze dies in a tragic accident soon after their wedding. This sets the stage for Humberts seduction of Lo. He ends up with his nymphet, losing her to a rival, killing the rival and dieing in jail. Ironically Lo dies soon afterward giving birth to a child. As you can see, this is more of a story of intense love rather than that of a pedophile. The situation Nobokov faced after writing Lolita is very much similar to that faced by the polish painter Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, better known as Balthus. Balthus had a difficult time getting his paintings displayed in his early days. His paintings were viewed as pornographic, almost taboo. They often depicted pubescent young girls in erotic and voyeuristic poses. He was best known for his disturbing and erotic works of girls on the verge of womanhood. One of the most notorious works from his first exhibition in Paris was The Guitar Lesson (1934), which caused controversy due to its depiction of a sexually explicit lesbian scene featuring a young girl and her teacher. As you can imagine the Guitar Lesson caused quite a controversy when it was first released. Balthus painted many pictures of young girls, most in provocative poses and situations. Balthus’ obsession with young girls parallels that of the early Humbert Humberts with the exception that he seemed to desire multiple girls and Humbert only wanted his nymphet, his Lolita. Other Balthus works that seem to parallel the plot of Lolita and the exploitation of young girls are The Golden Days, which seems to show a topless young girl sitting in a chair while her older lover seems to be building a fire in the fire place in preparation of a romantic night. One could almost envision this scene coming right out of the book. The other painting that puts you in mind of book and its controversial content is pictured here. I couldn’t locate the name but you can clearly see the relationship of this Balthus painting to the character Quilty, Humberts rival for Lo’s affection. This looks as though it were taken right out of the text, displaying Quilty and the semi nude Lo. Other samples of Balthus’ works are shown on the following page. Notice the young girls in various stages of undress, a reoccurring theme. The tie between the book and especially Humbert and the works of Balthus are very strong and if the book were in need of illustration, I’m sure Balthus would have did an excellent job as its illustrator and would have thoroughly enjoyed the job. So you would ask yourself, â€Å"Is Balthus the outstanding preserver of tradition or a mediocre painter who is only remarkable for sexual perversion and snobbery? Do his typical paintings of little girls testify to desires beyond the area of taboo or are they untouchable archetypes of purity? Balthus, who had staged his life, partly constructed his vita and surrounded himself with an aura of mystery, leaves art lovers and historians with a lot of riddles to solve. †

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Essay - 1

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness - Essay Example Because of the enhanced level of connectivity brought forward by the evolution of the internet, the world has transformed into a single connected entity. This technology powered transformation has automatically helped in the process of speedy diffusion of various trends of globalization, which continues to arise from various corners of the world. The trends of globalization bring into effect a significant amount of change in regards to consumer behavior of the masses of various locations. It is highly interesting to cite that the changing consumer behavior of the various markets around the world automatically creates the need for various new kinds of products and services, which in turn paves the way for evolution of significant business opportunities. Hence, it can be said that the factor of technology has largely integrated itself with the factor of globalization for the purpose of development of strong business opportunities in various global markets. It is to be noted that the or ganization that has been chosen in this case is Apple Inc., which is a highly popular global brand in the electronics gadget segment. The organization has a highly diversified global product portfolio which manufactures portable music players, computers as well as latest technology mobile phones. Talking from the perspective of globalization, it can be said that the organization has achieved a tremendous amount of growth through successful capitalization of the business prospects. Because of the impact of globalization the awareness for the products of the company has been widely spread across various global markets. This increased awareness of the products got transformed into a huge demand in the multiple markets around the world. Also the diversified product range which includes iPods, iPads and iPhones has proved to be successful in drawing the attention of the young generation. This ultimately resulted in the high sales of the products of the Apple in the domestic as well as th e international markets. While weighing the aspect of technological change, it has to be considered that the faster evolution and high penetration of the internet has brought a positive impact for the products of the organization. While the products of the company are high on innovation as well as new edge technology, yet a large amount of the product features are tremendously dependent on the connectivity provided by the internet. Also, it has to be highlighted that the advancement in technology by the rival product manufacturing companies has also contributed in developing products with new features and up graded versions by the globally popular company (US Sec, 2012, p. 6). 2. Application of  the industrial-organization model and the resource-based model. The industrial organization model takes into account the variables of complexity and strategic importance. Matching the two variables in a two by two matrix, four kinds of scenarios can be chalked out. Under high complexity an d low strategic importance, the outsourcing option seems most viable. Under situations of high complexity and high strategic importance, the option of business process reengineering looks more valid. Under circumstances of low complexity and varying level of strategic importa

Annotated Bibliography for Organizational Analysis Essay

Annotated Bibliography for Organizational Analysis - Essay Example The Political Frame recognizes the power play within and between institutions. The Symbolic Frame believes that schools produce symbols to create commitment and meaning. This article is important, because it describes different forms of leadership. However, it does not consider that some school leaders may be integrating these different frameworks. This source is important to my field of study, because it will help me analyze and prescribe the best frameworks for different goals and conditions in the Training and Doctrine Command. Managementhelp.org. (no date). What is an open system? Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/misc/orgs-open-systems.pdf This article describes the main elements and concepts of an open system. An open system is a system that interacts with its external environment through feedback processes. Some of the important components of an open system are inputs, processes, outputs, goals, assessment, and learning. This article is a good source of the basics of an open system, but further research on its real-life applications is needed to understand its strengths and limitations further. This source is important to my field of study, because I want to know how the Training and Doctrine Command works as an open system and what can be done to exploit the advantages of this system. I also want to learn the issues with an open system, especially in how the external environment affects the internal system. Nadler, D.A., & Nadler, M.B. (2000). The Congruence framework - a roadmap for understanding organizational performance. Mercer Management Journal, (13), 4-10. Retrieved from http://www.oliverwyman.com/deu-insights/MMJ13-OrganizationalTrans.pdf Nadler and Nadler (2000) argued that the congruence framework analyzes the roots of organizational performance. They described that it is not a prescriptive model, but an analytical framework that helps leaders understand the interaction between social and technical factors that affect the performance of each organization, so that people can design and execute their own solutions to their organization’s distinctive performance problems. The strengths of the article are its explanation of the components of the congruence model and its application of the model on the Harley-Davidson’s case. Its weakness is that it was not tested empirically using other companies and industries. This source is important to my field of study, because it will help me analyze the best way to implement large-scales changes to the Training and Doctrine Command. McLeod, S. (2007, June 25). Bolman & Deal frameworks. Big think.com. Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/ideas/bolman-deal-frameworks McLeod explains the Bolman & Deal frameworks. These frames are different on their main beliefs about schools as organizations, and the means in achieving their goals. The strength of this article is that it underlines that it is possible to use all frames in understanding and resolving school problems and in implementing organizational changes. It is not an academic source, however, and it will help to do more research on these frameworks and how they are actually used or changed during design and implementation changes. This source is important to my field of study, because I am interested in knowing different ways of analyzing issues in the Training and Doctrine Command and in determining the best leadership approaches. Bolman & Deal fr

In a World of Stereotypes Essay Example for Free

In a World of Stereotypes Essay What is a stereotype? Stereotypes are characteristics ascribed to groups of people involving gender, race, national origin and other factors. (Nadra Kareem Nittle. Para 1). Most of these characteristics are over exaggerated opinions of the groups. The next few paragraphs in this paper will identify three examples of a stereotype one may encounter in their everyday lives, an argument that may support the stereotype, and any mistakes that may be found in the argument. One stereotype that is very common but a lot of people may not consider a stereotype is age in the work place. This may sound a little ridiculous but there are â€Å"persistent negative perceptions pertaining to older workers† ( Ostroff Atwater, 2003, p. 729; see also Posthuma Campion, 2009). An employer might think that a younger worker would have more energy or stamina, less health issues, and more of an open mind when learning new technologies. An older person might be considered stuck in their ways rather than a fresh young employee right out of college. Nonetheless an older person in age might have more experience that would require a higher paycheck, as where a younger person may take less money in order to gain the experience. Although some of these arguments may make sense to the average person reading this, the same feelings can go for someone in the younger age groups. â€Å"Young adults might also feel stereotype threat in the workplace, as younger workers are often perceived to be less reliable, less committed to the organization, and less socially skilled† (Nadra Kareem Nittle. Para 31). Moral of the story is that there are good points and there are bad points for any worker no matter what there age. These are all assumptions of an age group instead of the true characteristics of the person themselves. An employer may not higher a sixty year old man who has a better work ethic than a twenty five year old man and he will never know because he judged the older man based on a stereotype and vise versa. As a result to stereotyping he will continue to go through employees during his entire career. Here the employer commits the fallcy called a Hasty Generalization as well. Drawing broad and very general conclusions based on insufficient evidence can therefore lead to harmful results, not only for the victim of the stereotype but also for the person doing the stereotyping. † (Mosser 2011, para 33). The next common stereotype is called a racial stereotype. In 1933 Katz and Braly did questionnaire method research using American students on racial stereotypes. The results are quoted as follows: â€Å"There was considerable agreement in the traits selected. White Americans, for example, were seen as industrious, progressive and ambitious. African Americans were seen as lazy, ignorant and musical. Participants were quite ready to rate ethnic groups with whom they had no personal contact. † (McLeod para 15). Although this kind of behavior could be very well just plain human nature t stereotype a group of people based on their race, the face just aren’t there. Look at President Obama for example; he is by far not a lazy man just because he is a black man. A lazy man would not have the ability to run a country. Yet he is black, so he must be pretty lazy. Fallacy? The last stereotype to address in this paper is sports stereotypes. Some may say that only men play sports like football, wrestling, or hockey and women only play volleyball, tennis, and badminton due to how much physical contact women should have verses men. (Million Views para 1). One would say these stereotypes do not seem to far fetched because football is a very rough sport and most men are bigger and stronger than a woman so if she were to join the football team she may very well get hurt. But why cant men play tennis? Does this make him girly? Or not a man? Some would say yes because the sport is less aggressive and a man needs to act in rough sports if they want to be considered a man. There are women wrestlers today and plenty of men play tennis without losing their so-called manhood. These things we all do everyday, sometimes without even realizing it. We are all categorized in some sort of stereotype more than we would like to admit. But the bottom line is that we all bleed red, we all breathe the same air, and we all have to die one day. We are human. Instead of being separated into generalized groups based on or age, religion, race, etc. we all should be as one in the same group of humans. Because weather we like it or not, we are human.

Television Violence :: essays research papers

Television Violence In today's society television plays a big role. People watch T.V. for many different reasons. People watch T.V. mainly for entertainment, they also watch T.V. to learn, and to find out news. Some people watch T.V. and get the wrong idea about what they're watching, they feel that what they are watching is okay to do. Violence is a major factor, it affects people of ages. The worst outcome of T.V. is that it sends out the wrong messages. Some people get bad ideas from the violence on T.V. Although violence on television is not the greatest thing, it should be not be banned or restricted in any way. Most people watch T.V. to get away from reality. Watching shows that depict a fantasy world are a lot more interesting to watch. People don't want to see things that happen to them on a regular bases. Although sometimes seeing something that has happened to you before may be funny. Watching T.V. relieves stress and can be good for your health. Doctors say that laughing is good for your health. Violence on T.V. is a very debatable issue. Some people say that it is totally wrong and that it should be banned. Most people like the violence and find it to be very entertaining. Parents find it very hard to restrict their kids from watching violent television programs. The child would want to watch that program twice as much just because their parents said not to watch it. The child would be curious to find out what is so wrong about the program. Some people get the wrong messages or get bad ideas from watching some shows. If parents were to educate their children before watching shows like "Mighty Morphan Power Rangers", " X-Men" and "Cops" , then they wouldn't have to worry about their child getting wrong messages. Television shows also send out wrong Television Violence :: essays research papers Television Violence In today's society television plays a big role. People watch T.V. for many different reasons. People watch T.V. mainly for entertainment, they also watch T.V. to learn, and to find out news. Some people watch T.V. and get the wrong idea about what they're watching, they feel that what they are watching is okay to do. Violence is a major factor, it affects people of ages. The worst outcome of T.V. is that it sends out the wrong messages. Some people get bad ideas from the violence on T.V. Although violence on television is not the greatest thing, it should be not be banned or restricted in any way. Most people watch T.V. to get away from reality. Watching shows that depict a fantasy world are a lot more interesting to watch. People don't want to see things that happen to them on a regular bases. Although sometimes seeing something that has happened to you before may be funny. Watching T.V. relieves stress and can be good for your health. Doctors say that laughing is good for your health. Violence on T.V. is a very debatable issue. Some people say that it is totally wrong and that it should be banned. Most people like the violence and find it to be very entertaining. Parents find it very hard to restrict their kids from watching violent television programs. The child would want to watch that program twice as much just because their parents said not to watch it. The child would be curious to find out what is so wrong about the program. Some people get the wrong messages or get bad ideas from watching some shows. If parents were to educate their children before watching shows like "Mighty Morphan Power Rangers", " X-Men" and "Cops" , then they wouldn't have to worry about their child getting wrong messages. Television shows also send out wrong

Ramadan & Eternal Child †Irma Stern Essay

Irma was fascinated with the Arab culture of East Africa and she frequently visited Zanzibar. Ramadan is considered a key painting in Irma’s career. She began depicting beauty in the atmosphere of the painting, rather than the external image of the subject matter. This work shows an elderly Arabic man sitting hunched over and praying. We see how calm and peaceful the Islamic man remains even though he sit amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy bazaar. Irma displays a feeling of spirituality & wisdom, as the man is shown as aged. The focal point is the old man’s white turban, and the large form of his body. The vertical composition of this work gives off the sense of strength. The foreground is mainly composed of the man’s body while the background is full of unidentifiable shapes representing the busy market crowds. The figures in this work are strongly outlined. Tonal values have been simplified, and natural, neutral colours have been used, which is rare due to Irma’s usual preference to bright, lucid use of colour. Loose, quick brush strokes have been used, connecting Irma’s work to that of an Expressionist. The Eternal Child, 1916 This work was one of very few with the subject of children that Irma painted. After her divorce in 1934 she showed very little maternal instinct in her artworks. The Eternal Child was the first painting that Irma did that clearly showed the change in her style of painting, and was done with oil paints on board. It shows her individualistic way of capturing the subject matter, which, in this case, is a young girl. Irma spotted this girl on German train, and she painting this figurative artwork from memory. This way she could interpret reality however she liked. Max Pechstein greatly applauded this work as he saw that the painting could evoke strong emotions and reactions from the viewer. The girl’s large head and small body indicates fragility, as do her small hands grasping flowers. Irma is showing the damage of war on the youth. Children are defenseless and afraid, yet hope glimmers in their eyes. The young girl’s eyes are wide and hopeful, as are the bright flowers. The focal point of The Eternal Child is the pink,  founded face of the girl. The tonal values of the painting greatly contrast, and the background colour is flat giving the work a lack of depth. In fact, all the colours in the work are flat leading the painting to be seen as two-dimensional, though the detail of the face does have depth.