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Antigone Research Paper

840 Words4 Pages

Li 1
Kalena Li
Mr. Daniel
English 3 AS
October 23, 2015
Impossible Escape From Fate Many individuals attempt to live by avoiding the truth about the life he/she is building for themselves because of society’s perspective on a nonconformist. In the quote by Plato, he states, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” A child who is afraid of the dark can be allayed by the common saying, “there is nothing to be afraid of.” Overtime, a child will stop being afraid of the dark because of society’s common belief that the individual will grow out of the fear and break away from using the fear as a way to feel safe. The tragic part is that an adult who is afraid of “the …show more content…

When Antigone and Ismene exchange thoughts on their beloved brother Polyneices, Antigone retorts, “Let me alone/ and my folly with me, to endure this terror./ No suffering of mine will be enough/ to make me die ignobly” (Ant. 111-114). Here, Ismene’s loyalty to the laws represents society's negative influences on an individual's choices. With Antigone wanting to bury her brother, it leaves her alienated because she lives in a society that values conformity. Consequences of excessive power and authority from a community over a person shows that not only does it lead to conflict, but it also leads to the loss of their own life. As Antigone is questioned by Creon about her act of burying her brother, she responds, “So my words, too, naturally offend you./ Yet how could I win a greater share of glory/ than putting my own brother in his grave” (Ant. 546-548). Antigone’s impactful words towards Creon’s exhibit her strong will power to stand up for what she believes in. With society’s unfavorable depiction on a woman’s power, Antigone breaks the law and tests Creon’s authority through the illegal burying of her late brother. Her behavior symbolizes that society cannot accept the views of others and their individuality. Her actions eventually lead her to isolate herself and take her own life. Antigone supports the idea that when society confronts an individual, the

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In the play, Antigone, Sophocles reveals a story of a character who responds significantly to an injustice. After a war between brothers’ Eteocles and Polyneices, both brothers are slain, but Creon, Antigone’s uncle, refused to bury Polyneices due to him fighting against the city. Antigone, the main character, decides to bury her brother against Creon’s orders, resulting in a conflict between the already cursed family. With the unjust refusal from Creon to not bury Polyneices, Antigone decides to stand up against this injustice, even if it means losing her life. Sophocles writes about a stubborn Antigone who believes she is following God’s law, in order to create justice between the cursed family and solve the unjust created by Creon, to

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Antigone’s actions are motivated by her allegiance to her family, moral conscience, and religion amid Creon’s political injustice and tyranny. Antigone’s actions motivate her to demand Ismene to prove whether she is “a true sister or a traitor to your family” (26-27). Antigone maintains loyalty to her brother despite his actions which threatened Thebes. Her inability to bear the thought of her brother’s corpse being picked apart by animals and not being honored with proper funeral rites forces her to act. Antigone’s fierce allegiance to her family is laid bare as she is willing to sacrifice her life to honor her brother and defy the law in an act that she believes is morally just.

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Much like Martin Luther King Jr., Antigone finds the unjust oppressions that are placed on her loved ones and peacefully breaks the law that she believes are unjust. She does this by burying Polyneices. Both Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. had been moved and committed to an idea and moved to the point where they had decided to take action that was seen as extreme. Their actions were labeled as extreme only because of their challenge against the status quo. Just as Antigone had faced doubt and resistance in her movement with her sister, Ismene.

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Antigone is a woman who stands up for herself, and does whatever she wants, no-matter what the consequences are, as she would rather die considering she owes more time to the dead as her entire family is dead except here sister Ismene (someone she doesn’t care for all that much as she doesn’t want to burry her own brother). She doesn’t mind dying knowing that she has respected the god/goddess rules as she believes that they could make harder and more threatening punishments than the mortals as the worst punishment Kreon or

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