ipl-logo

Similarities Between Antigone And Martin Luther King Jr

1510 Words7 Pages

Both Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. engage in civil disobedience. Despite the similarities, they carry out civil disobedience in very different ways. Explain the differences between Antigone and King’s views on civil disobedience, the reasoning and purposes behind their disobedience, and different means they use to achieve their ends. Pick one version and argue it’s merits versus the other, using specific examples from both readings.

Renowned for their defiance against the laws mandated within their society, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone stood out as revolutionaries. Martin Lither King however, viewed civil disobedience as a method in which repressed individuals join together in the means of fighting against un just laws. …show more content…

King addresses one of the ongoing issue addressed from individuals from the opposite side of his movement, the consistent breaking of laws in the name of social justice. “You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern.” King acknowledges the complaints of the other side and then uses rhetoric to demonstrate an alternative side to the issue. “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights.” This statement delegitimized the ongoing argument against time for these groups. The civil rights movement had been occurring nine years before the letter was written, but justice had been made. King progressed further to say that separate, but equal claims are invalid as there is no equality among the races. “A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.” The society of these critics have justified which is eligible in print for the previous two centuries, but had not seen any actions in its place. King points that is completely hypocritical as we cannot expect some rules to be applied to and understood, while others are overlooked. King has channeled all these inequities into a large group of individual who wanted to gain support for the rights that they should be allowed. Antigone however addresses her concerns in a straight footed manner. Giving little regard for …show more content…

During that time, black individuals compromised 75% of bus riders. The boycotting of the bus system was a clear example of how economics can have a direct impact within a movement. King discusses within his letter how this protest led to him, “suddenly [being] catapulted into the leadership”. Through the constant perseverance of this boycott the city of Montgomery was able to take its first step toward the ending of segregation within busses. Next by providing the perspective of a parent explaining racism to their child for the first-time king really hit’s a sharp tone of melancholy within his letter. “… when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children.” By giving a description of what the initial appearance of racism like for a colored individual, King applies a visual look that is quite memorable image for individuals, specifically parents. The creation of this image gives the reader new insight into what it’s liked to be a colored child and having to deal with the oppression of entertaining a child’s joy. Antigone used her status as a profile woman to justify some of her actions upon the king. Her suicide caused the death of

Open Document