Ignorance Is Bliss

Ignorance is Bliss In Sophocles Oedipus Rex and Athol Fugards get the hang Har hoary and the Boys we see the protagonists evolve from ignorance to knowledge in several diverse ways. As we watch this evolution we see both characters start at ignorance in rattling similar ways and while both take very different routes they end their journeys with similar complex consequences resulted from the knowledge they gain on the way. In Oedipus Rex the protagonist, Oedipus, starts from his entrance in the bosh at a interject of ignorance.He is naive to the truth close to his life and the direction it is heading. Oedipus is unaw ar that he is King Laios news and he will ultimately fulfill his dower to kill his let and marry his mother, no matter what steps he or his parents take it is a fate they cannot run from. Oedipus knowledge comes scarcely later when he realizes the truth, that he is in fact King Laios son and when he murdered the king along the road where the three highways ac t as he did in fact kill his bring and go on to marry his mother (Anti 2. 192).The knowledge of the seers prophecy approach true leads to Oedipus ruin. In get the better of Harold and the Boys the protagonist is Hally the seventeen year old shop professers son. The reader is sh take Hallys ignorance by how he acts with surface-to-air missile and Willie. Hally treats these manpower as friends, particularly with surface-to-air missile, the two are more(prenominal) handle companions hence(prenominal) a white boy and black hired help. Instances of this ignorance are seen in the way they spent their time together. Hally naively believes that him and surface-to-air missile can be friends despite the place and time they are in and how is father treats them.Hally believes that since get along with is seen in the world that he can escape his fathers beliefs and that despite surface-to-air missiles observation that some people are bad and thats only if the way it is Hally It doesnt stimulate to be that way. There is something called progress, you know. We move intot exactly burn people at the stake anymore (482). Like Oedipus, Hally is difficult his best to fight his fate but he is unaccompanied moving himself closer to it. Hallys knowledge really comes when he and Sam begin fighting. When Hally is upset he takes that out on Sam because he can.He talks to Sam in a way only previously done by his father. This entire scene shows the realization that Hally really is more comparable his father then he wanted to admit. two Hally and Oedipus discover truths about themselves that they did not like and act to run from, only they were unable to escape their fate and at long last succumbed to it. Oedipus truths are similar to Hallys in several ways. First Hally realizes he is more like his father then he wanted to admit and in the end he just started the cycle of his fathers negative beliefs and attitudes all over again.Oedipus like Hally is similarly destin ed to become like his father, he follows in his fathers footsteps first by running from a prophecy then eventually following him to his own ruin. While Oedipus knowledge is more literal then Hallys both men induct actions that have severe consequences leading them to the truths they uncover about themselves. Hallys actions of taking his anger and frustration out on Sam causes his true ideals to come out. When he begins to act out the audience is shown just how much he really thinks like his father.Despite his best efforts to show that he believes things can miscellany in the dynamics between whites and blacks, it is really not a strongly held idea as the beliefs of his father, that he as a white man is superior to his black help. The words he says to Sam can never be taken back and forever shifts the blood between him and Sam, no longer friends they are now master and servant. Oedipus overly deals with a similar problem. He also commits actions that completely change the cultiv ate of his life and can never be taken back. Like Hally Oedipus wants to change is fate.Where Hally does so by trying to be friends with Sam and Willie, Oedipus does this by going home putting as much distance as he can between himself and the man he believed to be his father. However like Hally, Oedipus in the end realizes that consequences for his actions. Killing King Laios and then marrying his queen are actions that have dire consequences for Oedipus and like Hallys they can never be undone. While both Hally and Oedipus try to fight their fate and both commit actions that forever alter their futures, they come about in very different ways.Oedipus deals with his fate in a more literal way. Oedipus learns the prophecy he had feared his whole life was actually true by the realization that he did murder is father and marry his mother. These physical actions lead to Oedipus downfall and are permanent. Hally, on the other hand, comes to learn the truth about himself, that he is like his father, by his actions toward Sam. While no less severe they are more emotionally damaging and speak to the relationship Sam and he tried to have but wound up losing because of the fight.This is damaging but not quite as physical as what Oedipus went through. Throughout each story we see the evolution of the characters from their naive beginnings to the painful realization of who they truly are. both(prenominal) characters come to several truths about themselves during their respective stories, in both cases their truths have significant effects. Oedipus knowledge leads him to his own downfall in order to lay aside his kingdom from certain death. Hallys truths about himself has a more recondite effect that is very significant and the true meaning behind the play.Hallys actions during his fight with Sam causes a divide between them that is irreparable, it is the effect of this gaolbreak that is most significant. Throughout the play we see several instances of imagery apply to describe the world the characters are living in and here is no different. The argument between Hally and Sam causes the same dance to carry on. This dance is a symbol for the beliefs held by Hallys father and the world they live in. By acting the way he did toward Sam, Hally is causing the imperfect dance to continue on.The effect of Hallys actions causes him to start becoming more like his father then he wanted but cannot avoid. In both Oedipus Rex and Master Harold and the Boys we see several instances of the main characters moving from ignorance to knowledge. While they gained insight into themselves it came at a price. For Harold it was the loss of his innocence and a bleak look at his future with Sam and Willie, with Oedipus it was the loss of everything he thought he had and his own painful exile.Each character tried to fight their fate, Oedipus literally by trying to flee the seers prophecy and Hally by doing the exact pivotal of his father and befriending Sam and Willie . No matter the path they took each eventually succumb to their destiny and was forced to learn more about themselves then they wanted. Despite the painful ending it was a journey they were meant to be on. flora Cited Fugard, Athol. Master Haroldand the Boys. Boston McGraw Hill, 2006. Print. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Trans. Fitts, Dudley & Fitzgerald, Robert. Boston McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.