The nature of social and personal conflicts might seem explicitly varied depending on the community and its characteristics, yet the core premise of failing to manage familial relationships and societal expectations remain consistent across cultures and time periods. Examining how these issues are interpreted in literature will allow eliciting a profound insight into the human nature and the nature of society. Though the thematic link between “Oedipus Rex” and “Fences” might seem tenuous, they are connected by the themes of betrayal, family relations, and pride.
The core ideas that both “Fences” and “Oedipus Rex” represent incorporate the concepts of family and revenge, therefore, introducing the notion of interpersonal and social confrontations. Furthermore, both works allow exploring the challenges of reconciling with sociocultural expectations and values. Though the plots of “Fences” and “Oedipus Rex” are strikingly different, the protagonist share several crucial characteristics, which allows detailing the nature of social and interpersonal issues across cultures.
To examine the issues mentioned above, several references have been located. First, primary sources were located online using the relevant databases. Specifically, the MIT official site was used to locate F. Storr’s translation of “Oedipus rex” (Sophocles). Similarly, Wilson’s “Fences” was located and incorporated into the list of resources (Wilson). Furthermore, secondary sources allowing exploring the themes of family, betrayal, and the relevant concepts were identified (Steverson 151; Onkoba et al. 108). The secondary scholarly sources in question were located using Google Scholar and other academic databases.
Currently, no problems regarding the exploration of the specified topic are expected. Furthermore, no issues have been observed. Nonetheless, the problem of aligning cross-cultural concepts when comparing a 20th-century story about an African American family and the ca. 450 BC Ancient Greek tragedy is expected to occur. The specified concern will be managed by incorporating respective theoretical frameworks and cross-cultural analysis.
Works Cited
Onkoba, Stephen Okari, Albert Mugambi Rutere, and Nicholas Goro Kamau. “Confluence of Kinship and Divinity in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not to Blame and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus.” East African Journal of Education and Social Sciences (EAJESS), vol. 3, no. 2, 2021, pp. 102-109.
Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” MIT. Translated by Francis Storr, n.d. Web.
Steverson, Delia. “’Don’t Nobody Wanna Be Locked up’: The Black Disabled Veteran in Toni Morrison’s Sula and August Wilson’s Fences.” CLA Journal, vol. 64, no. 1, 2021, pp. 147-165.
Wilson, August. “Fences.” Internet Archive, 1985. Web.