Initially, Oedipus and Creon may seem like individuals with contrasting traits. However, as the story unfolds, their characters and destinies become increasingly alike. In Sophocles’s play “Oedipus the King,” Oedipus and Creon exhibit starkly contrasting personalities. Oedipus lacks tact and acts without considering the consequences, whereas Creon demonstrates wisdom and caution. In “Oedipus the King,” Oedipus effectively epitomizes the concept of a flawed hero. He gradually becomes prideful and impulsive.
Accusing Creon and Tiresias of treachery, Oedipus goes against the gods and incurs severe punishment. In contrast to Oedipus, Creon is characterized by his thoughtful actions.
Creon displays wisdom and loyalty at the beginning. However, in Sophocles’ play “Antigone,” his character undergoes a dramatic transformation, resembling Oedipus more and more. Engaging in acts of hubris, Creon senselessly kills and humiliates others. Yet, upon recognizing the error of his actions, he self-punishes for defying the gods and causing the downfall of everything he cherished—a parallel to the tragic tale of Oedipus.
Initially, Oedipus and Creon appear as contrasting individuals with distinct characteristics. However, as the events progress, their personalities and fates become almost identical. In the play “Oedipus the King,” Oedipus is portrayed as an impulsive and arrogant ruler, while Creon serves as his patient and thoughtful right hand. Following the deaths of Oedipus and his sons, Creon assumes the throne of Thebes and gradually becomes even more reckless and uncontrollable than his predecessor. Oedipus accuses Creon of bribing Tiresias, a blind prophet, to deliver a prophecy that would lead to Oedipus’s downfall. He asserts that Creon is conspiring to “plot against the king” (189).
Oedipus accuses Creon of persuading him to call Tiresias, the prophet, without providing any concrete evidence. According to Oedipus, if Creon and Tiresias had not conspired together, he would have never known about the prophecy. Creon criticizes Oedipus for his stubbornness and lack of reasoning. Oedipus accuses Creon of betraying his kin without any proof.
Creon, without considering the consequences, impulsively accused and condemned Antigone. Despite initially opposing rashness and thoughtlessness, Creon ultimately becomes another Oedipus. In the play “Antigone,” Creon embodies all the negative qualities that plagued Oedipus’s leadership. Specifically, Creon asserts that no one is allowed to bury Antigone’s brother, Polynices.
Shortly after, a guard rushes in to inform Creon that Polynices has been buried, much to Creon’s anger. He swiftly blames the guard for burying the body, calling him a troublemaker and accusing him of prioritizing money over his duty. The guard highlights Creon’s change from a patient ruler to an impulsive king by remarking how terrible it is when someone in power makes incorrect judgments.
Creon, similar to Oedipus, falsely accused the guard and condemned him to death without sufficient proof or evidence. Additionally, both Oedipus and Creon displayed hubris through their participation in abhorrent acts.
Both Oedipus and Tiresias display disrespect for the gods through their foolish and purposeless actions. Oedipus, in an act of hubris, insults Tiresias by accusing him of betraying and destroying Thebes (177). Tiresias, as a prophet of the gods, is merely relaying what he has witnessed to Oedipus.
Tiresias’s refusal to reveal his secrets to Oedipus leads to further insults and embarrassment. Oedipus refers to him as the “scum of the earth” (178) and accuses him of being involved in the conspiracy, driven by anger towards his prophecies. Oedipus suspects that Tiresias is being paid off, asking “Who primed you for this? Not your prophet’s trade” (179). Oedipus’ impulsive nature causes him to accuse Tiresias, a revered prophet and wise seer, of being corrupt and fraudulent.
Insulting the gods and ignoring their laws leads to Antigone’s downfall. Creon, on the other hand, demonstrates even greater hubris by refusing to bury the body of Polynices. This act directly defies the gods and their laws regarding death. When Creon confronts Antigone about her illegal burial, she asserts that Zeus did not decree against it.
She points out that according to her, the laws that Creon imposed on men were not ordained by the justice who dwells with the gods beneath the earth (82). Creon took the daring step of claiming that he, as a mortal, could surpass the authority of the gods (82). As a consequence of this audacious act of pride, Creon is punished harshly, similar to what happened to Oedipus.
Both Creon and Oedipus face severe consequences due to their excessive pride, resulting in the loss of everything they value. Eventually, they both realize their mistakes but it is already too late. Oedipus learns the horrifying truth that he has unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother, with whom he has children. Upon discovering these shocking revelations, Oedipus becomes unable to tolerate the company of any other living being.
In Jocasta’s bedroom, Oedipus hastily takes two “long gold pins” and proceeds to forcefully insert them into his eye sockets, a self-inflicted punishment that instantaneously transforms him from a proud and conceited ruler into a humbled and visually impaired individual. It is through this act that the gods exact their retribution upon Oedipus.
According to the text, Creon experiences a punishment that is comparable to “all the griefs in the world that you can name” (237). He shares a similar fate as Antigone’s when he forfeits everything he considers precious in his life. Among the things Creon sacrifices is his refusal to allow Haemon and Antigone to get married. This decision causes significant emotional distress for his son, Haemon.
Due to Creon’s actions, Haemon takes his own life, causing his blood to be spilled by his own hand (120). Eurydice, Creon’s wife, also commits suicide in response. Consumed by sorrow over Haemon’s death, she stabs herself at the altar (126). Creon is responsible for the deaths of both his son and wife (127).
Both Creon and Oedipus lack support to lean on (127) and someone to rely on (127). The chorus predicts that a fitting fate awaits both of them, which will ultimately teach them wisdom” (128). It is evident that Creon and Oedipus share many similarities. Both attained power by chance and circumstances but were brought down by their arrogance and excessive pride. Initially, Creon appeared distinct from Oedipus. However, once he became king, he rapidly became virtually indistinguishable from Oedipus.
Due to his reckless and apathetic behavior, he suffered a similar outcome as Oedipus.
A Consumers Buyer Behaviour Is
Four major factors influence a consumer’s buyer behavior: cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors. These factors contribute to the development of product and brand preferences. While marketers cannot directly control many of these factors, it is crucial to understand their impact in order to create marketing strategies that cater to the preferences of the target market.
Consumers follow a five-stage decision process when purchasing a product: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decisions, and post purchase behavior. The length of this process can vary from a shorter routine response behavior to limited problem solving or more extensive comprehensive problem solving. The purchase decision may not be made by the consumer alone but can be influenced by various individuals in different roles. The number of people involved in the buying decision increases with the level of involvement and complexity of the buying decision behavior.
Understanding the impact of cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics is essential for marketers to effectively appeal to consumers. Factors such as culture, subculture, and social class greatly influence purchasing decisions and shape our values.
Social factors encompass various aspects, such as reference groups, aspiration groups, member groups, family, roles, and status. These factors elucidate how external influences from others impact our purchasing choices, whether directly or indirectly.
The PERSONAL factors that impact our preferences consist of age, lifecycle stage, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle (including activities, interests, opinions, and demographics), personality, and self-concept. These factors can elucidate the reason behind the fluctuation in our preferences as our situation evolves.
There are various psychological factors that influence our decision to buy, such as motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes.
Marketers must recognize and understand the individuals involved in a purchasing decision, as well as the significant influence others have on consumers’ buying choices. By gaining insight into these individuals, marketers can improve their strategies. In particular, the initiator is the person who first proposes or considers buying a particular product or service.
An influencer is someone who greatly influences the final purchasing decisions through their opinions or recommendations.
The person who holds the ultimate authority to make a decision about a purchase or has influence over it is often called the “decider”.
The person responsible for making the actual purchase is referred to as the “buyer”.
The term “user” pertains to the person utilizing the product or service. Consumer decision-making differs based on their level of involvement in the purchase decision. Routine response behavior is noticeable when purchasers obtain inexpensive items that they are acquainted with and frequently purchase. Limited problem solving arises when buyers come across an unfamiliar brand within a familiar product category. Conversely, extensive problem solving emerges when buyers acquire expensive products that are not usually purchased within an unfamiliar product category.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey gathers data on the purchasing behaviors, income, and characteristics of households and families in the country. Its benefit lies in enabling users to connect consumer expenditures and income with consumer characteristics. The survey is divided into two parts: a quarterly Interview Survey and a weekly Diary Survey, both having separate questionnaires and samples.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey serves a range of users with different objectives. Market researchers utilize the data to comprehend demand for groups of goods and services, enabling them to track spending patterns across diverse consumer types. Government and private agencies depend on the data to assess the well-being of specific population segments, such as consumer units comprised of individuals aged 65 and older or under 25, as well as low-income consumer units. Economic policymakers analyze the data to evaluate how policy changes impact various socioeconomic groups. Researchers employ the data for numerous studies, including those investigating spending behavior among different family types, trends in expenditures for various components (including new goods and services), gift-giving behavior, consumption patterns, and historical spending trends. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) extensively utilizes the survey to periodically revise the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The survey results aid in selecting new market baskets consisting of goods and services for CPI calculation purposes, determining relative importance within CPI components, and establishing new cost weights for these market baskets.
The Catcher In The Rye: Book Review
The Catcher In The Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a fictional novelthat was first published in 1965. The novel takes place in New York City and inPennsylvania over a duration of four days. This novel tells the story of anemotionally disturbed teenager who has been kicked out of a boarding school. Thestory is told from the point of view of a teenager who is the narrator of thestory.
The main character in this novel is Holden Caulfield. He is sixteen yearsold and serves as the narrator of this novel. Holden does not like anybody oranything around him. He is an emotionally troubled kid and has many problemswith his life. Phoebe is Holden’s little sister. She is ten years old andlives at home with their parents. Phoebe really admires and loves her bigbrother, Holden.
This novel begins when Holden is in a mental hospital in California. Thenovel is a flashback of the events over a time period of four days. Theflashback starts off when Holden gets kicked out of his boarding school, PencyPrep, because he is failing most of his classes. Holden decides to go into NewYork City for a couple of days until his parents will be expecting him home forChristmas vacation. Holden goes to bars and meets with friends during this time.
On the third night, Holden decides to go and visit his sister, Phoebe. Phoebeis one of the only people that Holden actually loves. Holden talks to Phoebeabout his life being a failure. He is trying to understand life and his placein the world. Holden decides that he wants to go see Mr. Antolini, an oldteacher, to help him get a better understanding of his life. At Mr. Antolini’shome, Holden discusses many of the problems that he is facing.Mr. Antolinitells Holden that he has to learn not to hate everyone around him. He has tolearn to love people. Holden is told that he has to think about his future. Hehas to decide when he is going to start to take life seriously and apply himselfin school. Holden’s conversation with Mr. Antolini is the climax of the novel.
This is the point of the novel when Holden starts to listen and understand hisproblems. He realizes that it is time he put his life back on the right track.
The next day, Holden returns home to his family. Holden is taken directly to amental hospital in California. The hospital is where Holden is before theflashback.
Holden was a very true-to-life character. Holden’s problems are similarto many teenagers of today. A lot of teenagers do not know what they want inlife just like Holden. Holden has many problems in school similar to theprobelms other kids have in school. Mr. Antolini says to Holden, Many, manymen have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now.
His statement is an example that shows that Holden is not the onlyperson in the world with these problems. Their problems might not be as severeas Holden’s, but they are similar. Many teenagers don’t know what they want todo in the future just like Holden. Holden is a very true-to-life character,because his problems relate to the problems of many young people today.
The reader of this novel might dislike some of the actions and find themto be unrealistic. It is unrealistic that a sixteen year old kid would go toNew York City for four days by himself with no one worrying about where he is.
In real life, most kids would not have the money to go into New York City forfour days. A normal school would contact the parents if the child was expelled.
Therefore, the parents will know that the kid is coming home and the kid willnot be able to go off on his own for four days without supervision. This novelhad some actions in it that just would not happen in real life.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this novel. I can relate a lot ofthe problems that Holden was facing to people that I know. This novel kept myattention, because I wanted to know what was going to happen to Holden. Theauthor probably wrote this novel to relate some of the problems that he had inlife with the problems of people reading this book. The author was attemptingto impress upon his readers that it is okay to not know what you want in lifewhen you are young. I believe that he was successful, because he made mebelieve that it is okay for me not to know what I want to do in life. Thisnovel was very well written, and I would give it an eight on a ten point scale.