Antigone Essays (2117 words) - Antigone, Civil Disobedience, Operas

Antigone After filling up your gas-guzzling SUV, you walk into the convenience store to pay for the gas and buy a soda. Reaching for the Diet Coke, your eye catches on something as a man walks past you. It is a shine, or a shimmer. Just the light bouncing off the keys, you think. You grab the soda and shut the door that is now fogged up due to the warm air. As you turn around, chaos breaks through the quiet, and everybody is leaping for the ground. Quite puzzled, you just stand there, looking at everybody, wondering what the hell is going on. And then you see it. The man that walked by you has a gun in his hands and is waving it around like a baton. Fortunately, he hasn't seen you standing due to the high shelves. He aims the gun right at the cashier. It is at this moment when you must decide whether you are brave or a coward. You have to decide whether you can do something about this situation or if you are just going to lay on the floor with everyone else. Being brave is tough. It takes a lot of courage and strength to do something that people would notice, to be an individual. Sophocles develops a character in his play ?Antigone? that is the definition of brave and courageous. Her name is Antigone. She is an individual because she stands up for what she believes is right, even though it may go against the laws created by man. Antigone's uncle, Creon, has declared that Polynices, Antigone's dead brother, may not be buried or mourned due to the fact that he fought against his home civilization. And anyone that defies this law will be punished by death. Antigone, however, firmly believes that her brother deserves the proper burial and ceremony that any soldier would receive. ? He's my brother. Yours too, in case you have forgotten. Nobody is going to be able to say I betrayed my own brother? (36). Despite the consequence of death, Antigone follows through with her beliefs and gives her brother the proper ceremony for a dead soldier. By c arrying through with her beliefs, Antigone not only shows her strength and courage, but also her commitment to her family. Family is very important to Antigone, especially since the death of her father and mother. And now that her two brothers are dead, all that is left is her sister. ?Sister, remember what happened to our father! ?Think about the fact that we're all that's left of our family? (41, 46-47). The fact that Antigone is now alone with her sister only makes her desire to honor her family even stronger. She has a very passionate spirit that cannot and will not be crushed by man's law or the consequences. Antigone posses an ability that enables her to follow her heart and that makes her a very strong and able character. You decide to be brave and courageous and to stop the gunman before he can hurt anyone. You realize how dangerous guns can be and the corollary of being shot. The thought that you could be hurt or even die from your actions crosses through you mind. But you feel as if you need to do this. Your pride tells you that you can do it, that you should do it. So you do, you try to stop the gunman. Pride can be a very powerful feeling that drives people to do things that they don't really want to do. Antigone's pride is her characteristic downfall. At the beginning of the play, she talks with her sister, Ismene, about giving their dead brother a suitable burial. Antigone asks for Ismene's help and explains to Ismene the consequences of breaking the law for burying their brother. At this point, however, Antigone doesn't fully realize the reality of the situation. Her pride is overtaking her and telling her to die with honor. Honor is the key word, as that is what Antigone thinks will come of g oing through with this act. ?I'm not afraid. If I must die, at least I won't die the worst of deaths ? a death without honor?