In Oedipus the King, Oedipus leaves his adoptive parents and goes into self-imposed exile in order to avoid the tragedy of the curse (patricide and incest). However, it seems to me that his departure is not a redemption of abandoning himself, but a desire to face death, suspend the shackles of taboos, and open the door to the original music: the pleasure of pain, the pleasure of masochism. Subsequent episodes confirmed this. He blinds the sacred eyes that symbolize visual centralism, which is precisely the extreme leap towards the original music.
Lynn's story also appears to be a rewrite of this archetype. His dictatorial father banished him to the Iraqi battlefield in the name of patriotism, blocked a disturbing, taboo-violating incest between siblings and punished his son. In Iraq, Lynn met the B class monitor. In the growing friendship, such a loving, ironic, strong, and protective Lynn man was gradually projected and recognized by Lynn as his ideal father, replacing the autocratic, patriotic, decaying, and castrated Lynn biological father. (There is such a precise and stark contrast between the two, one cannot help but wonder if it is Ang Lee's ingenuity). In this nascent father-son relationship, the Oedipus complex continues to work in both positive and negative directions (castration anxiety and identification effect). That's why, when his ideal father died in battle, on the one hand, Lynn failed to rescue him. It was like killing his father, and he had a strong sense of guilt. On the other hand, he was regarded as the leader of his naive teammates because of his achievements There is a sense of satisfaction in taking on the responsibility of a father who protects his children. The pleasure in pain, the erotic desire in death, is clearly the original pleasure in which the erotic instinct and the death drive are intertwined.
We may also be able to test this point of view from the relationship between Lynn and his sister: initially, due to the potential incestuous relationship with his sister, Lynn not only cleans himself and is loyal to his sister with a masochistic mentality, but also, when he avenges her sister, He also gained a secret pleasure in the pain and even a smile full of Nirvana. After he returned from the battlefield, he learned from the conversation with his sister that she was willing to betray (even if the betrayal did not happen). After that, he not only gave up his virginity and betrayed his sister, but also lied that he was determined to betray and deceived He had lost his sister, and even refused her sister's help and its implied incestuous relationship. There is no doubt that Yuanle is at work behind this.
So, Lynn must leave his hometown again, he must return to Iraq, he must return to the abyss of death, which has nothing to do with the cycle of karma, comradeship and sense of responsibility, but in order to continue chasing that which can never be satisfied and must be exchanged for death 's hidden original music.
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