Today I was talking to several other teachers at school about this idea of pollution, which I find ridiculously fascinating. I am coming to Oedipus with a lot more knowledge than many of you, but when I'm rereading a text, I try to find something that I don't normally think about. This pollution idea fascinates me. I wonder if the taint of our society burdens us (even if we are unaware), and I wonder if in the age of the internet if this pollution can ever go away.
Is there importance in forgetting or is it important for us to always remember?
If Oedipus pollutes his city because of murder, then who is to say political crimes or terrorist actions today don't delude our society currently; and who is to say that all this pollution comes from people of political power? One might say Snooki is polluting the world (and certainly New Jersey) and the effect may be long lasting.
I agree with the idea that pollution still taints our society, and I agree that with today's technology it is almost impossible to forget things. But, I think forgetting is not always necessary, instead what is needed is closure. In class today you brought up Osama Bin Laden. Obviously no one is going to forget him or his actions anytime soon, but knowing that he has been eliminated helps bring closure to the families. This helps lift the taint that has hung around New York since 2001. In the case of Oedipus, the city of Thebes remains tainted because there has been no closure for the murder of Laius. Until some action is taken to help resolve the unsolved murder, the city will always be polluted. I also agree that the pollution does not always come from those holding political power, and I find your thought of people in our media polluting society very interesting as well as amusing. Though I think we can all agree that New Jersey has smelt horribly long before Snooki took the scene.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that our society is polluted with political crimes, terrorist acts and the media. The idea of Snookie or the show Jersey Show polluting society is accurate. Not all people may notice but the young people of our society use slang from this show and purchase shirts that say ridiculous things like “Yeah Buddy.” I personally see these trends as pollution. When children go around thinking that going out drinking every day and sleeping with strangers is acceptable and the “cool” thing to do, I call that pollution.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that pollution is something people forget but more of something to rant about until it is worn out and becomes an old topic. For example, Snookie is now pregnant, but in a few months no one will care until she actually has the baby. We all know she is pregnant and remember that, but because no one is constantly talking about her pregnancy it will simply be a topic that is not brought up for a while. Not forgotten, but not in verbal circulation.
I think that with this idea of pollution, there is much uncertainty, meaning that i think it kind of depends on the circumstances which makes society remember. In the case of 9/11, Americans will always remember that day because so many people were affected, and thousands of lives had changed because of it. Although Oedipus Rex is a fictional story, i think that the people of Thebes would forget soon enough because Oedipus only changed the fate of his own life and kids. I think that society in the tragedy of Oedipus considers him as pollution, of course, yet they would move on from the situation completely.
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