What Is The Difference Between Letter From Birmingham Jail And Antigone

“They traveled a short while toward the sun and left the vivid air signed with their honor,” is the concluding line of “The Truly Great” by Stephen Spender. This poem is about individuals who made a difference, after vying for it. An example of a "great" in the civil rights movement is Martin Luther King, Jr. He fought for the rights of African Americans through peaceful protest; however, in 1963, King was arrested and wrote A Letter From a Birmingham Jail to explain his motives for the movement. An example of an honorable character in fiction is Antigone from Antigone by Sophocles. In the story, she goes against the King Creon of Thebes, orders and buries her brother, Polyneices, who had been declared a traitor. She does this due to the love

in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Antigone use metaphors to convey their beliefs and ideas. In King's letter, he uses the metaphor "rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths," where he is comparing the struggle for civil rights to the process of freeing oneself from ignorance and false beliefs. (Passage B) He suggests that just as Socrates believed in the importance of questioning myths and half-truths to gain knowledge and understanding, individuals must also question and challenge the oppressive beliefs and structures that keep them in bondage. On the other hand, Antigone uses the metaphor where she explains "unwritten” and “unshakable traditions," where she is referring to the unwritten laws that dictate proper burial rights for the dead. (Passage A) By describing these laws as "unwritten" and "unshakable," she is comparing them to a powerful force that cannot be ignored or disregarded. Antigone is illuminating how these unwritten laws are equally powerful and have a significant impact on society. Both Antigone and King suggest that persistence is necessary to overcome these powerful forces and achieve lasting change. Antigone is willing to face death to uphold these traditions, while King advocates for nonviolent direct action to create a crisis and establish tension that forces society to confront these issues. In both cases, the struggle for justice requires persistence and a willingness to fight against the status quo. One

For instance, In King's letter, he uses the rhetorical question, “Why direct action?”...“Isn't negotiation a better path?" The effect of this quote is to establish rhetorical analysis in a dense society to motivate the audience to compromise with him on peaceful protests to get the civil rights movement started. Martin Luther King Jr. used rhetorical questions to persuade minorities and allies to ravish for change. However, there was opposition to these events because it was deemed uncomfortable to the non-affected. King justifies how it is necessary to have abnormal contact to develop a brotherhood; it is crucial to leave an impact on the spectator to receive support in the movement against racial inequality. To add on, Antigone states, “Who on earth, alive in the midst of so much grief as I, could fail to find his death a rich reward?” Moreover, Antigone further resists Creon's law because Antigone would rather be dead than face life without her brother Polyneices. This is meant to give the reader an understanding and better comprehension of the situation. This question shows she remains faithful to her truth and evokes emotions when she refuses to follow Creon’s blasphemous rule. Overall the difference between both rhetorical questions is that they show Antigone and King value society's values in different ways. Antigone and King