Would you LOOK at that

The hero of Thebes may have gorged his eyeballs out of their sockets, but does that make him truly blind? Every direction Oedipus has seen has lead him to the wrong destination; "nothing [he] could see could bring [him] joy"(1473). When his eyes were fully intact, he was searching for something more. He felt as if he couldn't see every angle of his situation, and when he finally did, he proclaimed " O light--now let me look my last on you!" (1307). He was oblivious to the world around him when he had his sight, but once his vision vanished, his perception of life was clear. Other characters, as well as Oedipus, have shown poor problem solving capabilities all throughout the story, and each solution followed the path of ignorance.  Jocasta and King Laius pinned their sons ankles together and sent him to be killed as a solution to a prophecy; if the baby was dead, they could avoid the problem all together! How simple is the path of ignorance? Jocasta kills herself when she discovers the prophecy has come true instead of facing her shame, which only makes the situation worse for everyone that is involved. The action that Oedipus takes to pry out his eyes is what opens his eyes to the truth, but also shields him from facing it. He isn't blind to his actions anymore, but he is evading his consequences, which is cowardly. Since the path of ignorance was blocked by a huge traffic jam of truth and reality, Oedipus had to take a detour, and he has no clue where he's going.