We all live in our own microcosms out of comfort but also out of fear of change. Sourdi is Nea’s world; she’s inseparable from her and wants to guarantee that they’ll be together under any circumstance. In a parallel universe, Thebes is Oedipus’ world; he rules as the city’s king, self-assured by the power he possesses. Both characters vary in the way they’re absorbed in their own worlds, but their internalized duties to be heroes exaggerates their moral responsibilities.
Nea and her sister have a give-and-take relationship, which she sees as the foundation of their sisterhood. Although Sourdi contributes more to the relationship by providing guidance to Nea, this is how they, especially Nea, see their relationship as normal. Nea’s indebted to Sourdi for protecting her, which ultimately makes her attached and clingy to her as well, going by any means to sustain that balance. Conversely, Oedipus believes that he’s doing something for his citizens by simply taking the role of king. Sitting at the top of the throne overseeing his subjects is the standard of his world.
In Big Hero 6, Tadashi and Hiro have a close brotherhood, similar to Nea and Sourdi. Hiro struggles to cope with the loss of his brother, while Nea deals with her sister drifting away. Both characters struggle with their sibling’s absence and try to fill up the holes in their hearts by setting out to be heroes in hopes of making them proud.
Nea wants Sourdi all for herself; she imagines this idealistic world where she and her sister would live together in peace and harmony, only doing things that the other could approve of. Once Nea met Sourdi’s husband, she immediately disliked him. She considers men around Sourdi as new stages of life she’s not invited into because they seem to “divid[e] [her] life with Sourdi from Sourdi’s life with men” (“Saving Sourdi”). However, Nea still sees men as “just hold[ing] a certain space in [Sourdi’s] life until it was time for her to move on” (“Saving Sourdi”). Believing that this was an extraneous event, Nea holds onto her belief that Sourdi will always revert back to the norm where her sole focus is on Nea.
Similarly, Oedipus wants all the power and honor that comes with ruling a city. Once Oedipus acknowledges the murder of Laius, he takes on the murder case as if he‘s doing something good for the citizens of Thebes. He calls himself the “land’s avenger by all rights,” (Oedipus Rex) because he only does this for the extra glory. However, he just realizes and tries to consider Laius’ murder now that people have brought the topic up to him, despite the fact that it was Laius’ unfortunate death that let Oedipus become king. In his years of power, he never bothers to consider what leaders before him have done because Oedipus has growing arrogance and overconfidence (overconfidence bias) in his abilities, automatically believing that he’s Thebes’ savior.
Nea and Oedipus stubbornly strive to maintain these desires despite all these disturbances. They’ve both adapted to being comfortable in their own worlds, but they’ve also grown confident that things will always remain normal and ideal.
In the anime Death Note, Light feels destined to have received a notebook with supernatural powers to kill anyone he writes down. He believes he’s fated to have this book because he’s a Japanese student who can read the English directions of the notebook. Light views this notebook as a transfer of God’s powers, falsely establishing Light to be a god himself. He feels overconfident in his abilities to chase out the evil in society by punishing criminals to death by the stroke of a pen. Like Oedipus, he falls into this vainglorious belief that he was blessed to have this power so that he can rise as everyone’s hero. Both characters struggle from accepting any exception to their belief because of their unbudging stance to see the reality of the situation.
AAfter hearing Sourdi’s call, Nea impulsively sets out to save her sister from being hurt. She says, “It was our personal story, just for Sourdi and me to share. Nobody’s business but ours. I would walk on bones for my sister, I vowed. I would put my bare feet on rotting flesh. I would save Sourdi” (“Saving Sourdi”). Nea knows that she knows Sourdi the best, so she quickly assumes that Sourdi’s in danger. Her profound feelings for her sister triggers her need to play the hero for Sourdi. Because Nea sees Sourdi deal with her problems independently, the rare occasion of Sourdi asking for help spells out an opportunity for Nea to easily establish herself as Sourdi’s savior. Through Nea’s eyes, Sourdi would undoubtedly accept Nea back into her life if she were to succeed with her rescue.
As for Oedipus, the priest begs and flatters him by saying “we bend to you, your power - we implore you, all of us on our knees,” and “your country calls you savior now” (Oedipus Rex). He urges Oedipus to handle the plague by excessively praising him, however, this only magnifies Oedipus’ moral superiority. Oedipus already knows he’s everyone's hero and that people look up to him. He has a minute incentive to help his citizens because he already possesses all the glory. The priest essentially reassures him that Thebes citizens will unwaveringly look up to him. Receiving that flattery, Oedipus now has an amplified sense of his capabilities.
Nea and Oedipus believe that they both know what’s best for people involved in their worlds. They both naturally see themselves in a better light because they hold strong ties to their people. While their intentions of saving are good, they overlooked all other possibilities that didn’t favor their situation and carried it out in an illogical manner that goes beyond ethics.
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