Similarities Between Antigone And Martin Luther King Jr

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.

Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born Michael Luther King Jr. he was the second child of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr and Alberta Williams King. Growing up, he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He skipped the ninth and the twelfth grade. He went to Morehouse College at the age of 15 without graduating from high school. Later, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. He became a minister at the age of 18. He was ordained in his father’s church. He later married Coretta Scott and they had two sons and two daughters. Martin Luther king lived a rough journey.

Martin Luther King (MLK) was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia and changed his name from Michael to Martin so he could honor a German reformer, Martin Luther. Martin was a middle child with an older sister, Willie Christine King, and younger brother, Daniel Williams King. He loved to sing and listen to music so his Mother, Alberta took him to various churches to sing. King was educated in Atlanta, graduating from Booker T Washington high school. After graduating, he enrolled in Morehouse College, where his grandfather studied. He was going to at first, study medicine or law but decided to major in sociology later he found ministry irresistible, so he served as an assistant to his father at Ebenezer while

While both Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both opposed superior figures such as King Creon and the United States Government or white supremacists, their purposes behind their resistances were quite different as well as their techniques for battling their oppressors. While MLK fought for the civil rights of the black community, Antigone fought for her brother. Her civil disobedience stemmed from a personal issue whereas MLK stood up for those who were being labeled and discriminated yet staying quiet. Their methods in their civil disobedience were drastically different, while Antigone maintains a passive aggressive attitude towards Creon, MLK takes more of a “self-purification” path and does not foster anger against the white community. Regardless of my appreciation for Antigone’s courage to stand up to the King for the honor of her brother and her family, MLK’s actions and decisions made a greater difference in society as his strategies such as demonstrations were thought-out and backed up by thousands of other people.

The civil rights leader was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929. In 1934, however, his father, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. As a result, King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year-old son.

Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. are incredible individuals in the history of the world. And both have contributed a significant amount of knowledge and influence that have changed the lives of many individuals, and even today is being studied and researched. These two great individuals have more in common than many people know, and that resides in their names respectively. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth name was Michael and not Martin. His father Martin Sr. traveled to Germany and was inspired by Martin Luther and his philosophies and teachings. He was inspired so much that he adopted his moniker of “Martin Luther”.

There may be many things for which a person is willing to fight. Nonetheless, there are very few for which a person will lay down their life. Freedom, justice, peace, and love are just some issues that most place a great value on. So, how far must we go to achieve these ideals that we so greatly crave in our world today? Some believe that passive action is the best and most moral way to achieve desired results, while others insist that forceful action quickly leads to a superior outcome. For instance, Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. each fought against different injustices by utilizing nonviolent, but direct action. The two greatly felt the need for change, accepted the responsibility of their endeavors, and sacrificed their lives

Both Antigone in the play Sophocles Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” went against the “law” to do what they thought was right. Both heroes knew about the consequences that came with their actions. Antigone decided to bury her brother, Polyneices, despite the possibility of being killed. Similarly, Dr. Martin Luther King continued protesting and creating speeches peacefully in spite of him being sent to jail.

Dr. Martin Luther King jr., was born on January 15,1929 but died April 4, 1968. Martin king attended segregated public schools in Georgia. Dr. king was so smart that he graduated from high school at the age of 15 and got a B.A degree in 1948 from an all time best black college back then named Morehouse. When Dr. King went

Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther king demonstrate that breaking laws that are unjust can be a good thing by bringing reform. Their nonviolent approach of civil disobedience till this day leave an impact on how we go about social injustice. Through their actions and words, both Antigone, and Dr. Martin Luther king demonstrate that they are not afraid to die for their beliefs and inspire us to take a passive approach towards the social injustices we are faced by in our community. I sympathize more with Dr. Martin Luther King because I believe that he took a more logical approach in stopping social injustice, as well as the fact that he is willing to put his life on the line for a whole community of people, in contrast to Antigone who is willing to die for solely her brother.

Although both Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s methods of civil disobedience have merit, I favor Dr. King’s ideas and objectives that focused on perusing change and gaining support for the greater good. Intentionally breaking the law and fully accepting the consequences, regardless of the situation, is no simple task. Antigone and Dr. King completed this task but for totally different reasons and in totally different ways as shown in Sophocles Antigone and Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. King himself.

Martin Luther King Jr. born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia with the name of Michael King Jr.. He was the second child of Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. His father was a minister of Ebenezer Baptist church and with Martin spent a lot of time in church. He grew up in a period in United States when african americans suffered from segregation and discrimination. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and they had four children. Martin was inspired to fight for the civil rights with non-violence of Mahamat Ghandi. In 1964, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He died on the evening of April 4, 1968; he was shot in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King Jr and Antigone were two people who used a nonviolent resistance technique to stand up for a cause they believed in. The technique they used is called Civil disobedience which is the refusal to comply with certain laws in a peaceful, non-aggressive protest. Both Martin Luther King Jr and Antigone were seeking justice for a cause without having to become physically violent with the opposing party. It took strength to go against their oppressors but they were willing to make self-less sacrifices. Martin Luther King Jr and Antigone provides many examples of how they used a similar approach to have a nonviolent confrontation.

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.