World Literature: Multi-Genre Final Project

Yok Jaruwan Rojprinyavut

May 28, 2012

World Literature Block F

“The Complexity of Self-Confident”

Table of Contents

Table of Content………………………………………………………………………………..page i

Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………....page ii

Entries

Anchor Paper………………………………………………………………………………..page 1

Genre

Interview: Oedipus……………………………………………………………………page 6

Poster: Okonkwo………………………………………………………………………page 7

Emails: Okonkwo………………………………………………………………………page 8

Magazine Column: Siddhartha……………………………………………………page 9

Letter: Siddhartha…………………………………………………………………….page 10

Storyboard: Oedipus…………………………………………………………………page 11

Work Cited…………………………………………………………………………………………page 17

Page ii

Preface

This Multi-Genre Project was made to show how student can synthesis the literary works that had learned this year together. The works that are chosen for this project are Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The anchor paper, this is the “anchor” of this project. This project started with an anchor paper. The anchor paper was written as a synthesis essay in order for reader to understand which characters are being synthesized. Next are the different types of genre; they’re divided into three different topics. The first topic is to show how Oedipus and Okonkwo don’t accept the truth, this is shown by an interview of Oedipus, and a Okonkwo’s persuade poster. The interview of Oedipus showed his don’t accept the truth by his speech, and the way he answer the questions. Okonkwo’s persuade poster showed that how he is unlike other people in his clan, he don’t follow the white man and also trying to persuade his people not to do so. Second topic is how Okonkwo and Siddhartha unsuccessfully being a father, which is shown by Okonkwo’s email and a magazine column that was written by Siddhartha. Okonkwo’s email how he was upset with the way his son act by asking a counselor for help. Siddhartha’s expression about his son was told through his story in a magazine column. Third topic is synthesizing Siddhartha and Oedipus that they both go on a journey and face some obstacles. Siddhartha’s journey was showed through his letter that was send to his parent. Oedipus’ journey was showed through a storyboard of Oedipus Rex. However all these characters can also be synthesized as a very self-confident character. Lastly is the most important page, because this project can’t be made without it, which is the works cited page. The works cited page included all sources that help to create this project.

Page 1

Anchor Paper
Yok

World Literature block F

May 28, 2012

Multi-Genre Final Project: Synthesis Essay

Complexity of Self-Confident

Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe have different plots and were written in different cultures. However readers who read all these works, we’re able to synthesize the protagonist form each work together. Each protagonist from these works has their own role and their own goal, but they are somehow the same. Protagonists from all these works are self-confident. In addition, readers may also be able to synthesis different things from the two protagonists. Oedipus and Okonkwo had faced difficulties in the story, but they don’t accept the truth, and they eventually became a tragic hero. Okonkwo and Siddhartha both had failed on being a successful father for their son. Siddhartha and Oedipus were on their journey to reach their goal.

Protagonist from these stories had lots of self-confident. And their self-confident caused them to do a certain actions that lead them to what happen next in the story. First, Oedipus, a protagonist from Oedipus Rex was “overly confident” and “even arrogant” that he created a large problem out of it (Rowan). Furthermore in ending part of the story, he regret on his too much self-confident. The first flaw that Oedipus made was when Teiresias proposed that Oedipus was the true killer of King Laius. But Oedipus believed in himself that he never did such thing. He even accused Teiresias that he is helping Creon to overtake his throne, he believe that “Creon desires to destroy [him]” (Sophocles 321). However in the end he realized that he what Teiresias said was true. Next, Siddhartha, a protagonist forms Siddhartha. He was a son of a religious leader of Brahmin. He was handsome and was mastered all the ritual and wisdom of Hinduism in early age. Everyone in the village view him as a perfect man. And because of this, he was very confident in himself that he doesn’t listen to anybody. Siddhartha go against the teaching of Gotama, a Buddha who had reached enlightenment. Gotama was not mad, but he even warned Siddhartha to “Be on your guard against too much cleverness” (Hesse 38). Last, Okonkwo, protagonists form Things Fall Apart. He believes in everything he had done. He’s very confident that everyone will be on his side and listen to him, but he later find out that it’s not always that way. Okonkwo was confident that the way he treated his family was the best way. Which is sometimes nonsense, such as the way he beat his wives and children without guilt. And he even rebukes his son for listening to his mother’s tale, which “That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women's stories. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked him or beat him” (Achebe 54). However, it was not a wrong thing to do for a son to likes his mother’s story.

The truth is something everyone must accept to be able to live on. Those who can’t or don’t accept the truth will someday failed in their lifetime, such as Oedipus and Okonkwo. Since the very beginning of the story, Oedipus runs away form the truth. Once he knows from the oracle that one day he will kill his father and marry his mother, he runs away. He doesn’t want to face the truth and run away with out knowing that he was running toward the truth. Second, Oedipus wanted to help his people from illness by punishing the person who killed King Laius, so he ask for Teirisias’ help, to identify the killer. When Teirisas told him that he himself “are the pollution of this country.” (Sophocles 320) However, Oedipus refused to accept this truth and replied, “You dare say that”. Oedipus found out that he was the one who kill King Laius and that King Laius is his own father and his wife was his own mother. In the end, after he saw his wife death body, he “ripped from her gown the golden brooches That were her ornament, and raised them, and plunged them down Straight into his own eyeballs, crying, "No more, No more shall you look on the misery about me, The horrors of my own doing! Too long you have known The faces of those whom I should never have seen, Too long been blind to those for whom I was searching! From this hour, go in darkness!" And as he spoke, He struck at his eyes--not once but many times:" (Sophocles 359). He eventually ended up being blind to escape from the truth. Next, the second character was Okonkwo. Okonkwo was being very pride and loved his clan so much that he doesn’t like any changes that was made. He was unable to adapt or compromises his ethics changing to the “white man’s”. He “is doomed to lose the traditions he cherishes as his society slowly falls apart” (Johnson). His final action was suicide; his act of suicide is what the title of this book came from “Things Fall Apart” because Okonkwo couldn’t accept the truth, so he escape by dying.

Not every father can be a successful father for his son, including Okonkwo and Siddhartha. Okonkwo was so afraid that his son would be weak and poor like his own father, so he did every way that he thinks was right to push his son to be like he, himself. However, his son “causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” (Achebe 10). And by having Okonkwo always beating him, his son was never better. His son reached his maximum level of enduring his father and eventually became one of the “white man” in order to be freed from his father. In the other hand, Siddhartha also have no control over his son. Siddhartha and his wife don’t live together when their son was born. Siddhartha get to know that he got a son when he first saw him when he was 11 years old, and that’s when his wife died. Siddhartha couldn’t control his son, because his son love to live as a wealthy in the city while Siddhartha is living in the hut as a ferryman. Siddhartha very love his son and trying to win his son love. No matter how naughty his son is, he never gets angry and never punishes him. One day, when Siddhartha ask his son to go get the brushwood, he screamed at Siddhartha, “Get the brushwood for yourself! I’m not your servant. I do know, that you won’t hit me, you don’t dare; I do know, that you constantly want to punish me and put me down with your religious devotion and your indulgence. You want me to become like you, just as devout, just as soft, just as wise! But I, listen up, just to make you suffer, I rather want to become a highway-robber and murderer, and go to hell, than to become like you! I hate you, you’re not my father, and if you’ve ten times been my mother’s fornicator” (Hesse 123). And after this, he ran away. Siddhartha knows that’s whether he followed his son or not, his son won’t ever come back again.

A journey that a character in a story goes on in order to reach something came up in most stories including the story of Oedipus Rex and Siddhartha. Oedipus journey occurred in the very beginning of the story. The shrine at Delphi told him about his fate, and once “[he] heard all this, [he] fled” away form Corinth. He went on a journey and “wandered farther and farther on my [his] way” in order to reach on “ a land where I [he] should never see the evil” (Sophocles 337). His goal was to run far away of his own fate. And on his journey he also faced some obstacles such as fighting with the men on the three highways and solving the Spihinx’s riddle. In the other hand, Siddhartha was on his journey the whole story. His one and only goal was to reach enlightenment. He went through Samaras, Gotama, Samara, and Vasudeva (Schedler). He had to go through all this before he reached enlightenment, his goal in the end.

From these three works, reader was able to synthesize those characters in these works. Even though Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, they got something that are similars. Readers were able to grab out some point that can synthesize these three works together. Oedipus and Okonkwo avoided the truth, which made them to become a tragic hero. Okonkwo and Siddhartha don’t have an ability to be a successful father. Lastly, Siddhartha and Oedipus were both on their own journey to reach a goal. However Oedipus, Okonkwo, and Siddhartha have one thing that they were all alike, which is all of them are very self-confident. And their “self-confident” is the main source that lead them to what ever happened in that story.

Page 6

Interview: Odepus

Do you believe in the oracle of Delphi?

Yes, I do. When I was young, I believed in what the oracle had told me and run away from my own hometown to escape my own fate.

What is your fate?

According to the oracle, I was fated to kill my own father and marry my own mother.

So you think that you had escaped from your fate?

Yes, I’m pretty sure that I had escaped from my own fate because my father, King of Corinth had already died from an illness.

Is it true that you’re the one who killed King Laius?

No, it’s not true. I never killed King Laius, I don’t even know how he looks like.

So, you’re saying that what Tiresias said was not true?

Yes, he lied. He was involved in Creon’s plan to take over my throne. First I also don’t believe that a senior like him would tell lie, but that’s the way it is.

What does Queen Jocasta say about this situation that happen?

She told me to stop finding the murderer, but I refuse not to. Because as a King of Thebes, I must do my job to protect my people from suffering, and the only was is to find the real murderer who killed King Laius. And in order to proved to everyone that Tiresias was a liar.

Do you suspect anyone for being a murderer?

I suspected Ceron, and I’m pretty sure it was he.

Why dose you suspect Ceron, he was your brother-in-law?

According to his plan to took my throne. It’s reasonable for him to kill King Laius. He thinks that when King Laius died, he could take the throne, but then I showed up. Therefore he asks Tiresias to tell everyone that I’m the murderer. This way, if everyone believes them, then I will be expel from this country, the next king will be him.

Poster: Okonkwo