Antigone Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis

Antigone believes that the laws of the gods should supersede the laws of men. Personally, she feels that the consequences of disobeying Creon’s law are inferior to the consequences of disobeying these higher laws. Morality is of greater importance to Antigone than her life, and ironically enough, in the conclusion of Antigone she is sentenced to her death for her transgressions against the law. Consistently throughout the play, Antigone struggles to understand how one could value the laws of men more than the laws of the gods. “How savagely impious men use me, for keeping a law that is holy” (942-943, Sophocles). Rather than succumbing to a law that she knows is not just, Antigone demonstrates kleos by being steadfast in her morality.

In Sophocles’ piece, King Kreon prohibited the burial of Polynices, Antigone’s brother, because he was seen as a traitor to his country. Antigone blatantly disobeyed King Kreon’s proclamation because she thought that Polynices ought to be buried not only because he was blood- family, but because the gods law states that burial is a necessary ceremony. Her sister, Ismene, tried to warn her of the trouble she could find herself in, if King Kreon finds out that it was Antigone who had buried her brother, the traitor. (Blondell, 21). In addition, Antigone does not hesitate to admit to this illegal deed when the guards catch her in the act (Blondell, 37,38). While she acted out of respect for her brother and the gods, it was selfish in the fact that she was only thinking of herself. She did not hesitate to disregard King Kreon’s law and did not take any factor into consideration. Antigone accepted that her life was the price to pay for her civil disobedience, but her actions also, unintentionally, led to the death of two other people. Although, in the end, King Kreon sees that Antigone was right, the reason for which she had fought, and ultimately lost her life for, had no significant positive effect on anyone else.

Sophocles’ “Antigone” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” are two works of literature addressing the concept of nonviolent civil disobedience. “Antigone” is the story of a young woman, who the play is named after, who buries her brother against the law, as he was a traitor. She was then incarcerated and sentenced to death by the king of Thebes and her uncle, Creon. “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, as the name implies, was written while King was arrested in Birmingham for leading a public demonstration. The letter is a response to another letter sent by a group of white clergymen criticizing his work, and to a broader extent, is addressed to the church and those who are complacent in the segregation occurring during

The fight for the good life begins with a single event. A word out of turn, an act of protest and overall, a continuous support of ones’ morals. Throughout their life, one is ingrained with morals up until the final breath they take. Antigone violates Creon’s edict and fights for the rights of her brother Polyneices and goes against the word of the law. Martin Luther King Junior (MLK) fights against racial inequality and lobbies racial views with acts of civil disobediences. Both Antigone and MLK acted against laws they believed to be unjust. Their own life experiences and the morals they grew up with influenced where the fine line of right and wrong stands. In Sophocles Antigone and MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, I am going to

Antigone’s motivation is love for her family- she puts it above all else. In fact, she is willing to sacrifice her life to defend that love. Antigone goes to great lengths to bury her deceased brother, who according to an edict issued by King Creon, died in dishonor, consequently making it illegal for anyone to bury his body. Through her actions to comply with her motivations, it is revealed that Antigone’s actions are also fueled by her strong beliefs that, first, the gods’ laws

Moral? Or Immoral? Those are questions that unconsciously go through a human’s mind when he or she makes decisions in everyday life. Some, however, may wonder where the boundaries are set. Most people believe that they have these restrictions on what is moral or immoral based off of experience or just by a “gut feeling.” Through the texts, Antigone and a “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” readers see the conflict that arises concerning the idea of morality. Both Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed their ideas on the topic; they agreed that the line was drawn when a direct family member or group of people were placed in danger or were wronged. The two characters’ actions were shaped by individuals like Kreon and the “white moderates” of the city of Birmingham. Antigone battled with Kreon to obtain justice for her late brother, while Dr. King criticized the citizens who were content with abiding to questionable laws to not break the peace. Their modes of action, however, were different. Antigone handled the disagreement by herself, while Dr. King utilized the power of many to make his point clear.

such as Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, and Ares, or following the man-made law by that of King Creon. Throughout the scenes of the play, Sophocles makes use of the Choragus to push the beliefs of the gods onto the citizens of Thebes. Sophocles does this in order to make the play directly apply to Ancient Greece, and to provide cultural insight. When Antigone makes the decision to bury her brother, Polynices, she is going against the man-made law of Creon and following the religious beliefs of the Gods. To summarize Sophocles’ Antigone, a tragedy, would include the introduction of Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles, and Polynices, who came into rule of Thebes after Oedipus, their father's death, both brothers received a prophecy predicting the two will

In Sophocles’ Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used resistance against powerful leaders to follow their morals and make a statement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s approach towards the reconstruction of society’s cultural understanding of segregation by speaking truth to power used civil disobedience in a more public and large-scale approach, whereas Antigone’s use of civil disobedience defied the law in a much more private, small-scale way to do what she believed what was right. In addition to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s advocacy for equal treatment and Antigone’s dedication to obey the gods, they used their determination to refuse to obey the laws of the land in order to stand behind their own morals.

The story of Antigone deals with Antigone’s brother who’s body has been left unburied because of crimes against the state. The sight of her brother being unburied drives Antigone to take action against the state and bury her brother regardless of the consequences. The concept of the Greek afterlife was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. Antigone percieved her actions to be courageous and valid, and Kreone, the King, percieved them as blasphemous. The entire story focuses on

Antigone goes against the normal human being at the time who would have just listen to Kreon, but instead she decided to stand up for her family over herself. On line 26 Antigone initially starts to think about why only one of her brothers was buried, “It’s the burial. It’s our brothers: Kreon, honoring one and casting the other out.” This was the first time Antigone got to show what she wanted and how she acted. Since Kreon did not bury Polyneices that broke Antigone’s heart. Her whole family except for Ismene is dead, so she wanted to respect her family first, and respect the dead. When she was brought to Kreon she had no shame, she did not lie, and she was honest with Kreon.

King combines the use of ethos and pathos as he compares himself and the rights of men to religious backgrounds. His first comparison is with the Apostle Paul, where Paul had “carried the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as to Kings carrying of “the gospel of freedom.” King addresses this similarity to show why he felt committed to go to Birmingham, because like Paul, he needed to respond as an aid to his people. Towards the end of Kings letter; he exemplifies courageousness in the Negro demonstrations by relating them to the actions of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they refused to follow what they believed to be unjust laws. Saying that if they are supposed heroes by going against unjust laws, why shouldn't the people see Negro demonstrators the same way? They are also God's children and by those disobedience’s, they were really showing the grace of God. These connections to religion supports their fighting against unjust laws as a divine cause.

Antigone’s civil disobedience was in honor of her brother. She could not allow her brother, Polyneices, to be left to the dogs and the birds. In those times, the responsibility of taking care of the dead belonged to the families. She didn’t fear the consequences of defying the law of King Creon. She believed in obeying the law of the gods’ more than the law of man, especially in this situation because it dealt with her family. “Nor did I think your proclamations had such strength that, mortal as you are, you could outrun the laws that are the gods’, unwritten and unshakable” (Antigone, Sophocles 38). She felt like she was doing the

In the prologue of Antigone, Antigone tries to convince Ismene that they must bury their brother. Antigone knows that this action is completely against the king’s laws with a death penalty. Despite all dangers and the disagreement of her sister, she attempts to bury Polyneices. When Antigone is arrested, Creon asks about how did she dare to defy his laws, and she answers: “Your edict, King, was strong, / But all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of God.” (59 – 62 Scene 2 Antigone) This indicates that Antigone’s actions are based on

Antigone expresses concern for the religious implications of not burying Polyneices but Ismene is more concerned with the instructions from the king not to bury him. Antigone tells Ismene that “You may do as you like since apparently the laws of god mean nothing to you” (62-63), conveying that her religious convictions are more significant than the laws of man. This characterizes Antigone as a woman of a strong moral stance who views her dedication to religion as being more important than the word of a mortal king. Ismene expresses that she believes she “must yield to those in authority” (50-51), but Antigone clearly does not agree she must do the same. Antigone is characterized as having strong moral and religious convictions because it becomes clear that she believes that the word of god is the authority in this situation rather than King Creon.

Loving her brother, Antigone, however, decides to go against Creon’s decree and bury her brother. She calls not burying Polynices an insult to what the gods believe everyone deserves—a proper burial. Soon, a watchman captures Antigone and brings her in front of Creon for questioning (432-440). Antigone justifies her argument against Creon’s decree by arguing that Polynices deserves a proper burial like anyone else does since it was the intention of Hades, the god of the underworld. She believes Creon, a human being, cannot make laws with enough “power to trample the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (456-457). Antigone’s argument leaves