Odeipus & Montag Compare and Contrast

s & MonOedipus & Montag Oedipus and Montag are two very different people. Oedipus is the king of his land and Montag is just a firefighter in a small community. What we do not realize is that they are also very similar in many ways. One way they are similar is that both come to a difficult realization. Oedipus comes to the realization that he is married to his mother and has killed his father and he does not handle it very well. He ends up stabbing his eyes out from being so ashamed. Montag realizes that what he has been doing for a living is wrong and has a hard time accepting that. Yet he overcomes it all and fights for his beliefs. Another way they are similar is that they have both killed someone. Oedipus killed his own father, Laius, by mistake. He did not know Laius was his father at the time of his death. He also killed many other people at the same crossroads in which he killed his father. Montag killed his boss, Beatty, because he was afraid Beatty would kill his friend, Faber. The two are different in the way that they handled realizing a terrible truth. Oedipus stabbed his own eyes out using a brooch when he found out about his past. He was ashamed of the truth he learned of and said “Why should I have eyes when nothing I could see would bring me joy?” Montag on the other hand fought for what he believed in. Once he knew the truth about his career being wrong, he stopped doing it. He fought for books and stood up for his beliefs. Another way they are different is in the way they think. Oedipus has to think of not only himself but all of Thebes. He makes decisions based on what the people want and need. Montag only has to think for himself. He has a wife but she ends up leaving him halfway through the story. There is not another person that he really has to think for; it’s just him. Their similarities and differences are what make them who they are; strong-minded, powerful, intelligent men who have overcome a lot of difficult