Oedipus and Psycho Brainstorming List

Brandon Ong B Block

9/30/14 Mr. Waddell

Oedipus and Psycho:  THE BRAINSTORMING LIST (a thorough list of details, narrative elements, ideas, etc. that the two stories have in common. This could be completed in the form of a big Venn diagram or some other chart type thing.)

Oedipus Rex:

• Oedipus’ downfall, fatal encounter with his real father, and marriage with his mother is guided less so by his own true desire by arguably, by fate.
• There is a mythical and supernatural element to Oedipus Rex - from the blind seer, the Sphinx and the prophecies from Delphi.

Similarities:

• both share a character who has been affiliated with their mother's in a perverse way : Norman Bates in Psycho, who dead mother is living in Norman’s pysche as an alternate personality after his father passed away, leading the pair to live as if they were the only two people in the world, thus igniting the Oedipus Complex which is subconsciously suppressed at a young age.

Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, while more due to fate, pursues a relationship, unknowingly,

with his mom, Jocasta, even having children with her.

• both share the commonality of having sight/eyes as major symbolism
• both share the aspect of beginning with a conflict that leads to the major problem:

Oedipus Rex begins with the problem of finding who murdered Laos to stop the plague of Thebes and transpires into Oedipus’ search for his true identity

Psycho begins with Marion stealing cash and with her death at the Bates motel, transpires into a movie about Norma Bates, who has gone insane, with his mother serving as an alternate personality.

Pyscho:

• The downfall of Norman Bates is less guided by fate, as is seen in Oedipus, and more so by a somewhat realistic story of how Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche as an alternate personality, for his father died, Norman and his mother lived in an isolated environment: as if they were the only people in the world. And when his mother found a lover, murdered them both out of jealousy. Through guilt, Norman "erased the crime" by bringing his mother back to life in his own mind.