Selfishness is a trait that each of us has. What we do with it and how much we have of it really determines the type of person we are. For instance a normal husband might be selfish when they pick out the color of their car but not be selfish when deciding to move their family across country for a new job. The difference is the importance of the decisions and really how many people it affects. The color of a new car may affect their wife by getting a color she doesn't like. This action is minimal because she will carry on life just the same despite it. While if he were to change his job and move across country it affects the whole family in a major way. They are either uprooted from everything they've ever known or they don't get to live with their father anymore. This is the type of selfishness that is unacceptable. We examine one example of such selfishness in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In this play the heart of Oedipus' tragic flaw is his selfishness which led to the downfall of his happiness.
There are many ways that Oedipus shows how he is selfish. The first example is when he sends for someone to find a way to rid his city of the plagues. Now, don't be fooled by this gesture, he did it purely for himself. As king, any problems that arose in his city are on his shoulders. Such as a coach is blamed for the loss of a basketball game, so is the king for the death of his people by the plagues. He sent for someone so that he would have some answers and be able to place the blame on something else. He proves this by turning the pain of the people to the pain of himself. "Yes, I know/ that you are sick. And yet, though you are sick,/ there is not one of you as sick as I.""(59-61) He then goes on to say that while you are just one person sick and dying that is nothing compared to him who is not sick but has to mourn for many. This is the core of his selfishness. His people must die, and watch their loved ones die, while, all he can say is pity me because I must mourn for all of you.