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Perspective: Oppenheimer and Odysseus

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The great director Christopher Nolan is fascinated by male heroic egos tortured with guilt: Robert Oppenheimer devised the atomic bomb and was wracked by guilt after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Odysseus devised the brilliant ruse of the Trojan Horse, which led to the sack of Troy. He too was tortured by shame.

In this age of inadvisable hyper-masculinity, it is good to see a brilliant film-maker taking a more nuanced view. Moreover, when I was in fifth grade I had an incessant addiction to throwing spitballs at my classmates. I've felt guilty ever since, Perhaps I will be the subject of Nolan's next movie. Or, well, maybe not.

This is not an exact transcript of the Perspective audio. Instead, it is the script Tom worked from.

Tom McBride is co-author of the annual Beloit College Mindset List. He is a specialist in Shakespeare. For 42 years he taught at Beloit, where he won an award for excellence in teaching. He also coordinated the Mackey Distinguished Writers' Program and the First Year Initiatives Program.