Oedipus_Rex_and_a_Raisin_in_the_Sun_Comparitive_Essay

Oedipus Rex and A Raisin in the Sun Comparitive Essay Melissa Andrus Axia College of University of Phoenix Oedipus Rex by Sophocles and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry reveal pride and integrity from two different time periods and social and culture standards. They both contain some similarities, such as the pride of a man and man’s willingness and ability to change current circumstances in life. There are differences as well, such as how one handles the circumstances in their life. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus shows excessive pride and self-righteousness. Oedipus thinks very highly of himself and thinks he is above everyone else. Oedipus feels very important and portrays an ignorance that will eventually bring him to his end; an ignorance that shows through his pride. Oedipus does not see himself for the mortal that he was and wanted to rise above being normal and achieve power. Once receiving this power, he shows his vanity through all that he has done for his city, such as remove the plague from the city and becoming their savior. Eventually, this all went to his head and made him quite arrogant. Oedipus had a good heart and noble intentions, but he could not escape his tragic fate. He truly was an honest king that wanted nothing but the best for his own people. He shows his loyalty to his people by being strong-willed to find those who murdered King Laius. His parents raised him with much love, even though they were not his biological parents and Oedipus leaves in order to protect them from himself when he learns of the prophecy that his fate would be to kill his father and lie with his mother. In A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family is revealed as a family with a lot of pride and integrity, fighting racism. The Youngers are a black family who inherited money and felt they could better their lives with it. Mama decides to spend half the money on a house in a better neighborhood and give the other half to Walter. They are confronted by a man who does not want a black family to move into a white neighborhood and offers them more money for their house than they spent. In the end, the family resists this attempt at segregation. Walter believes that the money can conquer all his problems and fill him with pride and respect while competing against the whites in order to better himself and his family. He ends up learning the hard way that integrity is the only thing that can bring him ad his family happiness. Comparing these two stories, Oedipus and Walter show similarities of having too much pride that they are unable to see what they have in front of them. Oedipus did not see that it was he who killed his own father and married his mother. Walter felt that money would better his life and did not appreciate the loving family that he had. In the end, Oedipus finds that the prophecy he fought so hard to prevent from happening came true and Walter found himself still as poor as he was prior to receiving the money. There are also differences in that Oedipus earned his way to the throne and cured the plague that was placed on the city and because of this, he convinced himself that he was above everyone else. Walter, on the other hand, got the chance he had been longing for to better himself and his family and ended up failing. The story of Oedipus ended in a tragedy with his mother/wife committing suicide and him gauging his own eyes out. Walter and his family learned that there are more important things in life than money. Oedipus lived his life in which his ending fate had already been decided for him, no matter how hard he fought to prevent it, while Walter’s fate ended up being out of his control as well, but was able to learn from it. Even though both stories showed similarities regarding the pride and integrity of the characters, the differences in culture and social standards played a part in how they were different. Both Oedipus and Walter are faced with challenges in their lives in which their pride plays a large role in determining how they handle their own situations. Ultimately, it is how their stories end where we are able to see the differences of their pride and integrity and how they have learned from their own experiences. REFERENCES Sophocles. (ca. 429 B.C.) Oedipus Rex. Reprinted with the permission of Harcourt, Inc. Abcarian, R., & Klotz, M. (2007). Literature The Human Experience Reading and Writing (Shorter 9th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. Hansberry, Lorraine. (1959). A Raisin in the Sun. Reprinted with the permission of Harcourt, Inc. Abcarian, R., & Klotz, M. (2007). Literature The Human Experience Reading and Writing (Shorter 9th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.