Methods Of Civil Disobedience Of Antigone And Martin Luther King

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.

Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey the demands or certain laws of a government/ occupying power. Without resorting to violence or active events of conflict, it is typically used in the form of a peaceful protest. Civil disobedience has been seen in historical context as a main approach and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa, India, and also in the American civil rights movement. It can also be a useful tactic in labor, anti-war, and other social movements occurring in numerous countries around the world. In both Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the author describes two very different displays of civil disobedience. Antigone disobeyed “man’s law” and buried her brother. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand, fought to change the law for the rights of a large group of people. For this reason, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts were more admirable than the efforts of Antigone.

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws. Antigone by Sophocles has a majority of examples of civil disobedience. A few examples that stand out is when Creon does not believe Polyneices deserves a proper burial, but Antigone believes that is human right to have one. Another example is when everyone in Thebes believes that what Antigone has done is not wrong and stand by her. One last example of civil disobedience is when Antigone knows it is against the law to bury her brother, but she knows and does the right thing for her brother. Civil disobedience is displayed all over the country. There are many examples of civil disobedience throughout history, for example, when Rosa Parks refused to sit in the color section of the bus. Another example is when Saudi Arabia women believe it was their right to drive because men can, therefore why can’t they. One last example, the Palestinian women and children wanted to leave because of the way they were treated because of their religion. Civil disobedience is an important role in a majority of peoples lives. The examples of civil disobedience in Antigone and the examples in the articles are similar because Antigone and the articles have one common goal they believe and stand for what is right and just.

Antigone’s acts should not be considered civil disobedience. The reason why is because her acts were non violent, all she was doing was burying Polyneices. Not hurting or threatening in any way. It was public in a way. There was no possible way that Antigone could’ve harmed anyone while doing this and she didn’t harm anyone during the play. If anyone saw her she wouldn’t care because she was doing it to pay respect to Polyneices. If she was trying to do it in private she would’ve try to hurt the guy who saw her burying the body of Polyneices.

While both Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for their religious and human rights, I believe that Martin Luther King Jr.’s ability to use both religion and nationalism gave him the ability to achieve his goal of civil disobedience in ways that Antigone could not. Martin Luther King Jr. used his religious background to give his claim greater influence in the deep south, calling upon every one of the Christian faith to rally behind a Reverend in trouble. His call to nationalism gave him the ability to have the nation standing with him against the leaders of Birmingham, evoking a sense of pride and unity in the nation against this injustice. Antigone used her civil disobedience to fight for her religious right to bury her brother Polyneices body. While Antigone remained nonviolent throughout her protest, her lack of negotiation with Kreon shows that her civil disobedience was misguided. Antigone failed to rationalize with Kreon, instead choosing to blatantly disobey without exhausting all of her options. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of religion, nationalism, and negotiation are why I believe that his civil disobedience was more effective than Antigone’s.

Antigone justified her civil disobedience of giving her dead brother Polyneices the decent burial which is against King Kreon's decree, by knowing well that she has violated the state's law by burying her brother. She then allegedly carries out an act against King Kreon's state law; but it is also an act in accordance to her own conscience

From the monarchs of the ancient era to the democracy of today, order has been maintained by means of rules and regulations known as laws. Compliance with these laws is enforced through punishments ranging in severity according to the crimes committed to reduce violence and misconduct from individuals within a society. However, just as citizens consent to abide by the laws of the state in which they reside, one is compelled to preserve justice and condemn the unjust decisions of man when the social contract contradicts the laws sanctioned by God. Approaching this conflict between natural and manmade laws in a non-violent manner is called “civil disobedience”.

Martin Luther King, Jr. defines “civil disobedience” as a way to show others what to do when a law is unjust and unreasonable. As King stated in the letter from Birmingham, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” When Negros were being treated unfairly, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in to show people how to peacefully protest and not be violent. The dictionary definition of civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest (Webster Dictionary). That is what Martin Luther King, Jr. did when nothing was changing in the town after the law for public school to be non-segregated. In

Dr. King was looking for support from members of society in order to create an effective change in society’s ethics. Moreover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s large audience and public movement used nonviolent tactics, such as sit-ins, marches, and freedom rides to put the Civil Rights Movement in action. Before directly acting against the law, Dr. King had used other means to try to obtain justice for all; he used the four basic steps of a nonviolent campaign to decide how he would approach this cultural issue of racism: determination of whether injustices exist, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action (King 1). After the first three steps of his nonviolent campaign proved to be ineffective, he decided to seek direct action through a large demonstration of civil disobedience. Dr. King had a tremendous impact on the segregation issue in not just Birmingham, but the entire country, by leading the Civil Rights Movement, which eventually helped influence anti-segregation legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that affected a massive population of the entire country. Although Dr. King’s journey ended in his assassination, his relentless passion for equal rights was empowering to many and helped to create a more just society.

Civil disobedience is the purposeful violation of a law to show that it is unconstitutional or morally defective. In the plays, Antigone and Trifles, the female main characters commit an act of civil disobedience. The plays are respectively written by Sophocles and Susan Glaspell. Antigone, the main character of Antigone, protects her dead brother's honor as she disobeys the laws of King Creon. Mrs. Hale, the main character of Trifles prevents a neighbor from being charged with homicide as she breaks the law in front of two lawmen-The Sheriff and the County Attorney. Both characters' crimes are similar; however, their differences lie in how they handle their violations. Antigone

Antigone defies the law of King Creon to honor her brother with a proper burial. She willingly goes against the King to follow the law of the gods’ regardless of the consequences, doing what she believes is right. Similarly, Martin Luther King travels to Birmingham to march and protest the injustices towards Black people because he believed it is the right thing to do. Although Antigone was not afraid to die for what she believed in, Martin Luther King’s method of civil disobedience was more effective because Antigone failed to promote negotiations and just accepted her punishment freely. King believed that to properly have a nonviolent approach towards injustice you must be able to speak peacefully to gain understanding for negotiation. Urging people to create tension in the form of civil disobedience to promote awareness of the injustices.

“A very few—as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men—serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it,” Henry Thoreau claimed in his essay, “Civil Disobedience.” Martin Luther King Jr. indisputably served the people of the state by his own conscience and was definitely treated as an enemy. “We want to be free!” King cried out during his “I've Been to the Mountaintop” speech. It didn't matter that it was seen as an evil act against the men in charge to him. “Civil disobedience” immensely impacted Martin Luther King and supported his views and drive that lead to the Civil Rights Movement.

To better relate Antigone’s actions to civil disobedience, we need to understand the meaning. Henry David Thoreau composed a well-known writing called “Resistance to Civil Government” (Thoreau). He was incarcerated overnight because he refused to pay his taxes. Thoreau was showing his opposition to the war with Mexico and the delay in abolishing slavery. In his essay he states, “all men recognize the right of revolution; that is the right to refuse allegiance, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficient are great and unendurable” (Thoreau 5). This declaration expresses the idea that citizens have the right to exercise resistance against laws they deem to be unjust or morally wrong; civil disobedience.

Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr. both fought against unjust laws, nevertheless, Antigone was sticking up for a proper burial for her brother, while Martin Luther King, Jr. was fighting for the minority group to be treated equally to everyone else. Though both were fighting for what was right, Antigone was only impacting her brother’s life and Martin Luther King, Jr. was impacting minorities all over that were being treated with unjust.

 Antigone feels that her crime is a display of respect for her dead brother, and her intentions were, in no way, criminal.  Antigone’s love for her brother and her reverence for the gods' wishes help her to overcome her fear of punishment for her actions. She makes the final decision to go through with the preparation of her brother’s body and his burial after coming to terms with her religious beliefs and their prevalence over Kreon’s demands.  A sentry catches her in the process of covering her brother’s body with dirt, and brings her before Kreon.  Antigone openly admits to her actions, as seen in the following passage: