Lyrical Essay

    Having your perception of a character change dramatically throughout a story is one of the most satisfying things a reader can go through. The usage of complex characters is nothing new to writers throughout the history of story-telling; some would say it is vital to a story in order to gain the audience's undivided engagement. Two recent embodiments of complex characterization that come to mind are Odepius from Oedipus the King and Prince Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender.  

    Before reading Oedipus the King, I thought it was going to be another version of Hamlet, so I was dreading to begin. I have always struggled with literature from ancient times because they utilize Latin, which I am not comfortable with; however, when I started reading, I was immediately captivated by the character more than the actual story itself. My captivation for the individual did not come from his heroic actions, but his egotistical nature and god-complex. More than anything, I couldn't stand him and read on to see what delusional things he would say next. My desire for delusional content was satisfied as Oedipus states, "I Oedipus whom all men call the great"(Sophocles 1128, 6). This single phrase sets the tone for the rest of the story as it establishes Oedipus as a character: someone who is unrealistic, but yet, bold. To confidently state that every man on earth considers himself, Oedipus, "great" takes a type of unwarranted certainty only a man in a position of power could make. As I kept reading on, I found his ego to be comically ironic. There was an instance when Oedipus accused his right-hand man, Creon, of trying to knock him off his throne. Oedipus was convinced that Creon hired an oracle to make false assumptions about him to get him banished from his city. He addressed this issue by confronting Creon and accusing him as someone " Who has only eyes for his own gain" (Sophocles 1138, 424-425). The irony in this single phrase is that any reader would know Oedipus has an extreme narcissistic approach to life, constantly thinking about how anything would benefit him personally. To illustrate, when Oedipus has to solve his city's dire conditions, since they were going through a horrible famine at the time and looked to their leader as a first and last resort. Instead of genuinely caring for his people, he alternatively focused on how much power he could gain from resolving this issue. As the story continues, however, we witness some glimpses of the underlying selflessness that Oedipus surprisingly possesses. When Oedipus realizes that he was in the wrong, and it was he who is the child of prophecy destined to bring suffering to his city of Thebes. He was not hesitant to banish or even kill himself for the greater good of his citizens. We also observed Oedipus make amends with Creon for his earlier statement by saying, "I shall speak for your own good, not my own" (Sophocles 1162, 1499); which was shocking since I did not think Oedipus was the type of character to apologize and take responsibility for his mistakes.

     A similar complex character to Oedipus comes in a different form: an animation. In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Prince Zuko has arguably the best character arc I have ever seen in any form of story-telling. Throughout three seasons, Prince Zuko goes from the banished prince who desperately desired his Father's acceptance to the rebel who sought the death of his Father. From the main antagonist to the most beloved side protagonist in the show. Right from the gate, our first impressions of Prince Zuko were that he was a self-centered but determined individual looking for personal gain. Zuko states in the first episode, "Their Honor didn’t hinge on the Avatar’s capture, mine does" (“ The Boy in the Iceberg” Avatar: The Last Airbender, written by Eisen, Zach T, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Dante Basco, Dee B. Baker, Mako, and Melendy Britt, 2015). From this initial line, there are many conclusions viewers can draw: he is a very egocentric individual and would like to benefit from the expense of others, specifically the protagonist, who is the only one who can bring peace to the world. Zuko is unable to think about the bigger picture here and is only able to think selfishly; but due to this reason, he surprisingly performs some good deeds. For example, when the main protagonist, Aang, got captured by the Fire nation (Zuko's home nation), it was Zuko who came to the rescue and set Aang free. Not because he wanted to see harmony in the world, but so that he could capture Aang again later to take full responsibility for it. Zuko's actions during this stretch of the plot added a whole new level of depth to his character— as his narcissistic approach to life was further solidified, showing that he does not care about his nation’s success but only for his own. Later on in the story, more specifically in episode eighteen of season two, readers were ecstatic to see Zuko finally turning his back on his past and wanting to depart on another path: joining Aang in defeating his own Father. The last part of the show portrays Zuko’s true character, as he was no longer blinded by his "destiny" and could finally relax. It was entertaining to see his serious demeanor, which I despised in the first half of the show, be used as a comedic relief when he finally teamed up with Aang. He went from a character that drew absolute hatred out of viewers to someone who viewers could not get enough of. Zuko, by every definition, is the perfect complex character.