Oedipus Rex And Why I Don't Care

Don't worry, I don't care about the story for reasons you may think, and I certainly don't hate the story of Oedipus Rex. Although the reading is kinda keeping it tough to stay awake sometimes. I don't think the story is boring or doesn't deserve the appreciation it has actually gotten. I don't care about Oedipus Rex just because I've heard about it all four years of high school. I read a simpler version of the play when I was a freshamn, and again when I was a sophmore. In Humanities last year, we went over the story again for two classes and the same thing happened for AP Psychology when we studied Freud and the Oedipal Complex. To me, Oedipus Rex is old news. Yes, he has a fatal flaw. True, he kills his father and marries his mother. Okay. Got it. Thanks for telling me again. Perhaps I was horrified to hear this when I was a freshman, but I don't feel like it deserves my attention anymore. I know that we're just starting a drama unit, but why not cover something fresher? I wouldn't dare ask for Shakespeare (I dread the day when that unit is going to hit me in the face), but why not like a modern drama? Well, that may be too dramatic.

So good job, Oedipus. Really, I know everything about your unfortunate situation. But would you mind sharing the spotlight with other dramas that deserve credit?

Problemos in the Writing Department

     Everyone- includuing myself- has had some difficulty with essays and thesis statements and the like. What's so troubling about writing a few well thought out sentences and proving those thoughts with evidence from the text to back it up? Well, for me it's the style of writing. I am a naturally sarcastic person who likes to ask a lot of rhetorical questions. There's already one in this paragraph. I don't take a scholarly, well-educated tone, because it isn't how I think. No, I'm not saying I'm stupid (different story for a different time), it just takes a lot of thinking and analyzing and time for me to actually transfer my jumbled thoughts into a coherent sentence. Time of which is not on my side. Sometimes, when I'm thinking really hard and looking off in the distance, a teacher will call me out for cheating. They figure since I spend so much time not writing, I'm looking off someone else's paper for ideas.

     And then there's the thesis. I've had problems creating a good thesis ever since I was taught it when I was a junior. It's just hard to write something that could take you forever to think of and it still not be good enough. And the thesis needs to be pretty general, but specific at the same time because you want to be able to tie anything you say in your essay back to it. Dang.

     In other news, the Dunbar Volleyball Team had a great season. I don't know anyone who's had a 30-8 record. 15-0 streak. Nice.

Two Legs vs. Peg Leg: O' Connery Edition

Okay, I'll admit that I didn't intend for the title of this to actually affect what I was going to write. But, I figured that comparing the two stories based on how I saw them and the author's intention was better than summarizing the plots. Less boring.

Anyhow, I enjoyed reading both of these stories. If there was a story to suggest, I would have gone with A Good Man Is Hard To Find. I suppose I find this story more fascinating than Good Country People because it was far more easy to comprehend (I feel bad for saying that) and it was more interesting plot-wise. I understand the message that O' Connor was trying to get across in Good Country People, but I found it boring and not particularly fitting. It was just kind of strange and awkward.

In A Good Man Is Hard To Find, I wasn't surprised at all to see that the old man was, in fact, the Misfit. I found that was one of the problems to O' Conner's stories- they were both fairly predictable. I knew that Hulga was being tricked in Good Country People, and I knew that the old man was the Misfit in A Good Man Is Hard To Find. I didn't know, however, that the family was going to be killed.

Is it bad that I liked when the grandmother died at the end? Well, I didn't like it- I don't like it when anyone dies ever- I just found her particularly annoying and hypocritical. Perhaps that was the author's intention- to allow the audience to view the world like the Misfit does. Which is why we weren't unbelievably sympathetic when the family was murdered.

BREAKTHROUGH?

Existentialism in REAL LIFE

Existentialism is the philosophical belief that the experiences of an individual shape that person as whole, influencing how they act and think. I strongly believe in this philosophy. I may not live my life through it, but I have noticed that certain types of experiences do change poeple. Unfortunately, I've noticed that the experiences are more negative and people learn negatively from that.

For example, when my father was about 20 years old, his mother died. When he learns this, his attitude on life turns for the worse and suddenly he's one of the more cynical people of the world, who doesn't trust people and believes everyone is out to destroy him in their own self interests. Or so I've been told. He's calmed down a little since he's had kids. That experience in his life shaped his attitude for a very long time until he was able to cope with the loss.

I've learned from my own physical experiences as well. Not to be cliche, but, yes, volleyball is the main reason why I have the attitude I have. I've had good coaches and bad ones, ones that loved to scream, and give me the silent treatment. Players and how I personally play affect my confidence- not just when playing volleyball but in all aspects of life. If I can't do it on the court, why should I be able to do it in the classroom or any social situation? I'm a confident/sarcastic person because I've learned to brush off the small stuff and come back with a vengeance. It's simply who I am now, and I don't think any decent amount of phsyciatric care can fix that.