Difficulty: Introductory | Prerequisites: Familiarity with Sophocles' Oedipus Rex (plot and characters). Helpful but not essential: any prior exposure to Simon Critchley's work on tragedy.
This topic sits at the intersection of Greek tragedy and modern philosophy of tragedy. Simon Critchley's "boomerang structure" offers a lens for reading Oedipus Rex that goes beyond simple determinism: fate is real, but the hero's own freely chosen actions are what deliver him into it. You should already be comfortable with the basic plot of Sophocles' play (the prophecy, the investigation, the revelation) and have at least a passing awareness that Critchley writes about how tragedy reveals something essential about the human condition. If you have not yet read or watched the play, do that first; these notes assume you know what happens.
Critchley's "boomerang structure" says that what you put out into the world comes back to you. Applied to Oedipus Rex, this means the prophecy alone did not doom Oedipus; his own character, choices and actions are what steered him into the fate the oracle described. Fate requires freedom to operate.
Boomerang structure (Critchley)
The idea that the consequences of one's actions return to oneself, like a boomerang. In tragedy, the hero's freely chosen deeds are the mechanism by which a prophesied fate is fulfilled.
In simple terms, this means: whatever energy or behaviour you throw out into the world, you get back.
Fate / destiny (moira)
In Greek thought, the allotted portion of life that is fixed by the gods or by cosmic order. In Oedipus Rex, the oracle's prophecy represents fate.
Think of it as the destination on the map. The route you take to get there is still up to you.
Free will / agency
The capacity to choose one's own actions independently of any predetermined outcome. Critchley argues that fate requires a zone of freedom; without choices, there is nothing to boomerang.
In simple terms: you are still making real decisions, even when the ending has been written.
Prophecy
A declaration of future events, typically delivered by a divine or semi-divine figure. In the play, the oracle at Delphi foretells that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother.
Think of it as the script the universe has written, which the characters spend the play trying (and failing) to rewrite.
Tragic irony / dramatic irony
A situation in which the audience knows something a character does not. Oedipus investigates the murder of Laius without realising he is the murderer. This is the engine of the play's tension.
In simple terms: the audience can see the boomerang in mid-air; Oedipus cannot.
Critchley's central claim: what you put into the world comes back to you. Negative actions produce negative returns.
Fate is not a force that overrides human choice. Instead, fate requires freedom. Without the ability to choose, there is no moral weight to the outcome.
The boomerang is the link between agency and destiny: the hero acts freely, and those free actions are the very thing that fulfils the prophecy.
The oracle prophesies that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother.
Every step Oedipus takes to avoid the prophecy (fleeing Corinth, investigating Laius' murder, demanding the truth from Tiresias) is the step that brings it closer.
Fleeing Corinth puts him on the road where he kills Laius.
Investigating the plague leads him to uncover his own identity.
His aggressive, self-centred questioning alienates those who might have softened the blow.
The prophecy comes true, but it comes true through Oedipus's own decisions.
The essay source emphasises that Oedipus was "very self-centred and had a very negative aura." In Critchley's framework, that negativity is the payload he throws out.
His pride (hubris) and anger are not incidental personality traits. They are the active ingredients that steer events toward catastrophe.
A different temperament, a different set of choices at each fork, could in theory have changed the outcome, even if the prophecy stood.
All the prophecies in the play are proved true. Fate is real in this world.
The key insight is that the prophecy does not do the work by itself. Oedipus does the work. The prophecy is the destination; the boomerang structure explains the route.
This reading avoids the trap of pure determinism ("nothing Oedipus could have done would have mattered") and the trap of naive free will ("Oedipus could have just chosen differently"). Instead, it holds both in tension: fate and freedom co-exist, and the tragedy arises precisely from that co-existence.
The boomerang structure is not confined to ancient Greek theatre. The same pattern appears whenever someone's attempts to avoid a problem are the thing that creates it: a company that cuts quality to save costs and loses the customers it was trying to retain, or a person who avoids a difficult conversation and watches the relationship deteriorate for exactly that reason. In psychology, this dynamic is sometimes called a "self-fulfilling prophecy," a term that traces directly back to the Oedipus myth.
"Oedipus had no choice; fate controlled everything." This misses Critchley's point entirely. The boomerang structure depends on Oedipus having real agency. If he were a puppet, there would be no tragedy, only mechanism.
"The boomerang structure means fate is fake and Oedipus just made bad decisions." Also wrong. The prophecy does come true, and it was always going to come true. The boomerang structure explains how it comes true (through freely chosen actions), not that it was never real.
"Oedipus is punished for being a bad person." The play is more nuanced than moral reward and punishment. Oedipus is also intelligent, determined and devoted to his city. The tragedy is that his virtues (relentless truth-seeking, refusal to look away) are the same qualities that destroy him.
Confusing the boomerang structure with karma. Karma implies cosmic justice across lifetimes. The boomerang structure is a literary and philosophical observation about how a character's actions loop back within a single narrative arc. Keep the two separate in your essays.
⚠️ You will very likely be asked to explain the relationship between fate and free will in Oedipus Rex. The boomerang structure gives you a ready-made framework: fate and freedom are not opposites; freedom is the delivery mechanism of fate.
⚠️ If an essay prompt asks whether Oedipus is responsible for his own downfall, the boomerang structure is your strongest analytical tool. Avoid a simple yes/no; argue for the co-existence of fate and agency.
⚠️ Be precise about Critchley. Examiners will notice if you reduce his idea to "what goes around comes around." Spell out the philosophical claim: tragedy reveals that freedom and fate are intertwined, and the hero's actions constitute the fate they were trying to escape.
True or false: In the boomerang structure, fate operates independently of the hero's choices. (False. The hero's choices are the mechanism of fate.)
Fill in the blank: Critchley argues that fate requires a sense of ________ to function. (Freedom.)
True or false: Oedipus's attempts to avoid the prophecy are what cause the prophecy to be fulfilled. (True.)
Fill in the blank: The literary term for the audience knowing something the character does not is ________ irony. (Dramatic / tragic.)
True or false: The boomerang structure and karma are the same concept. (False. The boomerang structure is a literary observation about actions looping back within a single narrative, not a cosmic justice system across lifetimes.)
Q: How does Critchley's boomerang structure reframe the relationship between fate and free will in Oedipus Rex?
A: It argues that fate and free will are not opposites. Fate needs the hero's free choices to operate. Oedipus's own decisions, driven by his character (pride, anger, relentless investigation), are the actions that deliver him into the prophesied outcome. The boomerang is the loop between agency and destiny.
Q: Give two specific examples from the play where Oedipus's actions to avoid the prophecy bring it closer to fulfilment.
A: First, he flees Corinth to escape the prophecy, which places him on the road where he kills Laius (his biological father). Second, he launches an investigation into Laius' murder to save Thebes from the plague, which ultimately reveals his own identity as the killer and as Jocasta's son.
Q: Why is it a mistake to read Oedipus Rex as a story of pure determinism?
A: Pure determinism would mean Oedipus had no real choices and was simply carried by forces beyond his control. Critchley's framework shows that the tragedy depends on Oedipus having genuine agency. His choices are real, and they matter, precisely because they are the vehicle through which fate is realised. Without freedom, there is no boomerang, and without the boomerang, there is no tragedy.
Q: What role does Oedipus's character (his temperament and moral approach) play in the boomerang structure?
A: His hubris, self-centredness and anger are the "payload" of the boomerang. A calmer, less proud figure might have navigated the same prophecy differently. Oedipus's specific personality is what makes each choice destructive. His virtues (courage, determination, devotion to truth) are also part of the payload: they drive the investigation that undoes him.
This connects to Aristotle's Poetics because Aristotle's concept of hamartia (the tragic flaw or error) maps closely onto the boomerang's payload: it is the hero's own characteristic that triggers the catastrophe. If your course covers Aristotle, pair these notes with those.
It also connects to dramatic irony as a literary device across other texts. Any play or novel where the audience knows more than the protagonist (Shakespeare's Othello, for instance) uses a version of the same tension the boomerang structure describes.
More broadly, this topic feeds into the philosophy of free will and determinism, a thread that runs from the pre-Socratics through to contemporary ethics. If your course touches on existentialism or moral philosophy, the boomerang structure is a useful bridge.
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