Figurative Blindness In Oedipus The King '

Chapter 1: Problem and its Background

A. Introduction

What is blindness? What does it mean to be figuratively blind? What are the other forces in the world that causes blindness? Blindness may be the inability to see. It is the state of being sightless and having no opening for light or passage. However, this form of blindness is literal. Blindness in literature is usually figurative. Figurative blindness refers to blindness that is not literal. It often symbolizes perceptual, spiritual, moral, or intellectual blindness, in which the character is unable to notice or judge something.

Perceptual blindness, or inattentional blindness is the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another

Yet he discovers that he has been blind to the truth for many years. Oedipus started life with a prophecy that he would murder his father and marry his own mother (Sophocles, McGuinness, & McGrogarty, 2008). In an attempt to avoid this fate, his parents sent him away. He was saved by a shepherd and believed that, that was his home. He later, learned his prophecy, fled his home, and sought out for his real parents. Oedipus lived out the prophecy without knowing he had done so. The land that he reined started to decline, and the prophet was put to blame. Oedipus called on, Teiresias, the blind prophet, who informed him that he was the polluter of the lands. After Oedipus discovered the truth, he was unable to accept it and ended up blinding himself. He was blinded by the truth, and the truth resulted in his

G. Wells wrote a series of short stories, which portrayed the concept of blindness in humanity as a common issue. Blindness in this sense is a society – related issue that affects individuals in the community. The Country of the Blind, The Diamond Maker, The Magic Shop, The Man Who Could Work Miracles and The Treasure in the Forest are the literary works, written by H. G. Wells, chosen for exploration of its association with blindness as a human limitation and weakness. The Country of the Blind portrays a character that sees among those who do not see. He is the opposite of H. G. Well’s perception of the average, admirable citizen. He is a symbol of an open mind among conformists. This character is a person of convention, prejudice, habit and imitation. This deprives the person of spiritual appetite, of a thirst for knowledge. The Diamond Maker and the Magic Shop illustrates doubt and prejudice as a part of acquired human nature. Lastly, The Man Who Could Work Miracles and The Treasure in the Forest exemplify man blinded of the consequences of his