Carrie Elizabeth Johnson, Black American Paralegal Student| InnovativeLegal, LLC. | DEATH OF HER BROTHER: ANTIGONE’S DECISION CLASH WITH HIS KINGDOM | Manchester Community College English Comp. Essay 3 Assignment | Written By: Carrie Elizabeth Johnson

MCC Course Syllabus Here

Carrie E. Johnson

English Composition 101 [Manchester Community College]

Due Date: May 10, 2020

DEATH OF HER BROTHER: ANTIGONE’S DECISION CLASHES WITH HIS KINGDOM

            In Antigone, Creon the ruler of Thebes is responsible for deciding the burial of two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices. One of which is given a proper burial, while Polyneices that led the foreign army is to remain at his death site. Antigone, the sister of both Eteocles and Polyneices disobeys what she considers to be an unjust law, not allowing her brother Polyneices to be buried. A story centered around the theme of civil disobedience, influential civil rights leader, Martin Luther King conveys in a letter the four steps of civil disobedience.

            Addressing his fellow clergymen in a letter from a Birmingham jail, King lays out the four steps of civil disobedience which consisted of the collection of facts to determine whether an injustice exists, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. King determined an injustice did exist in a racially segregated area of Birmingham and when called upon to aid in a local demonstration from an affiliate human rights group, King accepted the invitation as well as the consequences of imprisonment for his participation in direct action. Quoting the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, King writes “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust”. With respect to her brother leading an army of men into battle, Antigone defies Creon’s edict and buries her brother under her own moral code, as she viewed Creon’s edict as unjust. Although Antigone defies Creon’s edict by burying her brother, I would argue her defiance departed from King's theory on civil disobedience.

For the divine law in Creon strictly enforced amongst residents of Thebes, Antigone failed in negotiations with the king for the love of her brother was her only justification for directly disobeying Creon’s edict that strongly departs in MLK’s method of determining a law to be either just or unjust. Leaving her brother, Polyneices unburied at his death site to be eaten by birds or dogs, Antigone’s opinion of this unjust law is morally degrading not just to her eyes but to GOD, whom she considered ruling over all laws and not that of a mortal man’s opinion brought into law. With thoughtful consideration to St. Thomas Aquinas on what he conveys as either a just or unjust law, MLK writes “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” The art of negotiations never existed between Creon and Antigone but was more of a war of words, in which both parties argued their opinions but neither could support facts in each other’s argument of Creon’s law to be just or unjust. Creon saw Polyneices as a traitor to his country and as the ruler of Thebes, by coming into power could create any laws for man to follow at the time without reason and strictly enforce those laws. When governing authorities create laws it is usually from a black-and-white perspective so there is no grey area to render a verdict, should anyone disobey the law. Antigone’s argument derives from a level of attachment, spirituality, and compassion in nature. Therefore, her argument departs from MLK’s theory on civil disobedience, as she had no other facts to support her direct action in the negotiations of her fateful death penalty and accepted the consequences.

More of advocacy, rather than an attempt to negotiate Creon’s penalty for Antigone defying his mortal law, Haimon, Antigone’s husband pleads with his father on her behalf. Following a collection of facts to determine whether a law is either just or unjust, negotiations are the next step in MLK’s theory on civil disobedience. MLK writes, “In the course of negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants-for example, to remove the stores’ humiliating racial signs.”  Traitor or not to his country land, leaving Polyneices body out for his body to be eaten away is humiliating. During a heated discussion between Antigone and Creon, Antigone states, “Nevertheless, there are honors due all the dead” (410). Her grieving husband pleads with his father Creon by threatening to kill himself, should he enforce his penalty on his wife. Haimon proclaims, “Then she must die- But her death will cause another” (610).  Both the public and Haimon viewed Creon’s harsh penalty as questionable as to rather or not it was truly a crime, Haimon asks, “She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime?” (555). I have reason to believe that Antigone’s defiance of Creon’s edict still departs from MLK’s theory on civil disobedience, as both attempts to negotiate with Creon failed as it was more of advocacy rather than negotiations. At that time, the King was considered the state, and laws that were enforced were not up for negotiation.

Self-purification is the third step in MLK’s theory on civil disobedience, which consisted of a series of workshops on nonviolence and them questioning the consequences of engaging in direct action. MLK explains, “We repeatedly asked ourselves. Are you able to accept blows without retaliating? Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?”. Creon made his edict public after the war ended and Antigone was aware of it with very little self-purification of the consequences in her direct action to bury her brother moved forward in her plans. In a conversation with her sister Ismene, Antigone states, “To announce it publicly; and the penalty- stoning to death I the public squarel” (25). “I am not afraid of the danger if it means death” (80). Antigone was displeased with her sister, Ismene reaction to her requesting her assistance in direct action but later declined her involvement. I would argue Antigone’s lack of self-purification consisted more of her discussing her plans and accepting the penalty without hesitation, as it went against her moral code, and strongly departs from MLK’s theory on civil disobedience.

Direct action is the final step in MLK’s theory on civil disobedience, as MLK writes “The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation”. Both he and the leaders of the human rights affiliation group in Birmingham would create a strong-economic withdrawal program for being victims of false promises by the local merchants during their first stage of negotiations. In Antigone’s case, her direct action was staged by Sentry who was accused of burying Polyneices first. Explaining to Creon, Sentry says “We went back and brushed the dust away from the body. The flesh was soft by now and stinking, so we sat on a hill to windward and kept guard” (325), “And then we looked, and there was Antigone!” (335). Antigone’s direct action departs from MLK’s theory on civil disobedience as it does not create a crisis among the residents of Thebes but ignites anger in Creon, who was the state and ruler of his community.

It is of important to conclude the different Eras, as Martin Luther King had sufficient facts, such as segregation, records of brutality, an unjust court system, and acts of violence to support his claim of unjust law in Birmingham. Whereas in the era of the Greeks, rulers made the laws on their mortal grounds, not of GOD or in the biblical sense. A minister of a church, King based most of his acts of leadership on the laws of GOD, as Antigone does use the laws of GOD as well as her moral code for giving all dead a proper burial in her argument with Creon. King credits Socrates' practice of civil disobedience of that time as the stepping stone to academic freedom of his era. It could be further examined Creon’s deeper thoughts as to imposing such a mortal law on his residents of Thebes, without taking into consideration what members of his state have to say about such a degrading act to leave a dead body at its death site. There is no mention of any immoral inappropriate relationship with her brother Polyneices, a look into Antigone’s passionate stance on why she felt it was a humiliating act and just the brotherly love she had for him was enough to defy Creon’s edict. Similarities are shared in that MLK witnessed lynching as the bodies would be displayed publicly from trees at the time which is equally degrading to leave Polyneices body out on the battlefield to riot, there is room for discussing Creon’s bases for creating laws of his era and if he factored in the laws of GOD as well as the Greek philosophers ideologies influencing the work of many rulers of his era can be further examined. Both MLK and Antigone argue from a spiritual sense, a higher level of compassion for the livelihood of humanity but as MLK admits, “law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice”. During the Greek Era, I would question the logic behind creating some of the laws that were created at that period and if they were considered just or unjust by the majority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

King, Martin Luther. “‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]".” Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.], 16 Apr. 1963, www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html.

 

https://mthoyibi.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/antigone_2.pdf

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