Frank Kermode writes in his book The Genesis of the Secret: “We are very reluctant to accept mystery, which cannot be reduced to other, more intelligible forms. However, this is what we find here: something irreducible, therefore perpetually to be interpreted; not secrets to be discovered one by one, but the Secret” (143). Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex illustrates Kermode's distinction between secrets and secrecy by showing how the seeker of truth taints the discovery of any secret with its presuppositions and interpretation. Oedipus, the play's main character, and the audience search for answers to Oedipus' past but find a reflection of their own presumptions in place of the truth. Oedipus demonstrates the natural error of human reasoning when confronted with the secret: projecting one's own conclusions and narrow-mindedness onto the answer. Through the play, the audience discovers that the search for secrets one by one with the tools of the human intellect leads to the frustration of secrecy in general: there is no truth accessible to humans that is not partly invented by them -themselves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Oedipus' attempt to uncover the secrets of his past blinds him to the truth and proves that humans have no not the ability to disclose absolute answers. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus learns of the murder of King Laius and swears to avenge his death, saying: "On the murderer I invoke this curse /...may he wear out his life / in misery until 'to a miserable end! (line 246). The irony of this passage where Oedipus curses himself at the fate he must suffer shows that he already has certain expectations regarding the murder mystery. However, Oedipus' reaction is sensible and natural to the reader and one cannot find fault with his reasoning at this point in the play. Although it is reasonable to assume that human logic is a tool for solving problems, Oedipus's rational thought process actually causes him to stray from the truth. In this sense, our human intelligence prevents us from finding answers that are not tainted by our own deductions. While humans generally view each mystery as a separate problem to be solved, there is actually a more general sense of secrecy that will always prevent us from finding the truth in its pure form. Although Oedipus thinks he has discovered the truth about his past, he still has. frustrated and confused with the gods and the ultimate answers regarding his miserable life. Oedipus continually laments his fate to the gods, saying: “Take me, my friends, the great wretch, / the most cursed, whom God also hates / more than all men on earth! (line 1344). Despite the many answers he finds to satisfy the immediate secrets surrounding him, he feels further from enlightenment than before his quest for knowledge. He questions the gods and the purpose of his destiny, but never questions whether he actually committed the crime. His assumptions not only prevent him from discovering the truth about his past, but also prevent him from truly understanding his destiny or the purpose of his life. Oedipus has such confidence in the answers he compiles from various dubious sources that he violently stabs his body. eyes as he discovers the story of his sins. We can partly attribute his irrational confidence to the many conjectures and presumptions he makes in the development of the plot. The same intelligence that earned Oedipus his royal position now brings about his downfall and inevitably prevents him from discovering a predetermined truth about his past. Sophocles not only demonstrates how human intellect and logic blind Oedipusto the truth, but how the same intellect interpreted it. literature can prevent the reader from finding answers. In the story, Sophocles subtly develops two plausible explanations for Oedipus' past. Small details of the exhibit given to each witness and piece of evidence, allowing the possibility that Oedipus was framed. For example, Tiresias the prophet accuses Oedipus of murder only after Oedipus angers him. Additionally, the only witness to the murder was unclear and could only remember that "the hands that committed the murder were many" (line 121). The play can be interpreted as a conspiracy against Oedipus or as a tragedy of Oedipus's unintentional sins, but both arguments have weak points. The reader wonders why Sophocles confuses the plot with these otherwise trivial details. The interpreter will never know Sophocles' original intention despite attempts to retranslate the play or rethink it in a new context, because these attempts would only reflect the interpreter's own presumptions. Sophocles deliberately allows more than one interpretation of his work to show the audience their own natural weaknesses when confronted with a secret. In this sense, the reader finds himself in the same position as Oedipus, whose every effort to find answers leaves him with a reflection of himself. Interpretation becomes another form of revealing secrets and is therefore perpetual since no original meaning, nor any secret, exists. However, casually observing the play, there appears to be no mystery or secret to the audience and only the characters in the story are the "outsiders" to the riddles created by Sophocles. Because Oedipus is a common and well-known story, most readers are familiar with the characters and know the ending or can make obvious guesses. The play has less suspense for the audience and instead contains many examples of tragic irony and double entenders due to their well-informed point of view. Despite the central theme of secrecy in the play, Sophocles allows the audience to feel like "insiders" by letting them know that Oedipus does not have. This allows for many instances of tragic irony, such as when Oedipus says of the murderer in the play's opening scenes: "For when I drive away pollution from the earth / I will not serve the benefit of a distant friend , / but I will act in my own interest. " (line 137). The apparently knowledgeable audience can almost pity Oedipus, who creates a double meaning in this line by unwittingly renouncing himself. The numerous examples of irony allow the reader to feel like an omniscient insider of the secrets that frustrates Oedipus But with this comfortable point of view, the audience casually accepts Oedipus' guilt by jumping to conclusions and ignoring the small clues that point to other possible discoveries Because Sophocles contradicts himself and offers two interpretations. different, the answers to the secrets of the play are misleading and the reader must also suffer from the mystery of the play. Although the audience enters the play with seemingly more knowledge than Oedipus, neglecting details and jumping to conclusions pushes them. audience members in Oedipus' position of ignorance The audience does not feel alongside Oedipus in his quest for answers, but rather feels sympathy towards him because he has already solved the riddle. This is the key distinction between individual secrets and overall secrecy: although the audience feels superior in their knowledge of Oedipus's secrets, they are in reality just as disillusioned as Oedipus and just as far from possessing any truth. real. Even though the audience believes they are an insider with the answers to all the secrets, they unwittingly become an outsider in following the quest for.