Antigone Journal #3

Contrast

Life/Death: Life vs. Death comes up a lot, especially when Creon and Antigone are arguing after Antigone is brought in by the guards. Creon speaks to her because he doesn't want to put Antigone to death. He wants her to realize that the idea of burying her brother, while it maybe seems like a noble one, isn't worth dying for. His message is that Antigone to "be happy" (41). And Antigone basically questions what the point of "happiness" is. She acts Creon what his version of happiness is, she asks "what sins" she has to commit to be happy (41). She's basically saying that this thing, this happiness that Creon is talking about, it has no point. It doesn't accomplish anything. To be "happy" she'd have to commit some sin, she has to let someone rot or lie or sell herself. She's arguing that happiness has a price. And that she'd rather do what she believes is right, than be "happy". And he what he wants is for her to have life, but she says that she "chose death" (44). So this contrast of life and death connects to another contrast that's sort of like happiness vs. being true to yourself, or something along those lines. Because the way Antigone is putting it, you can't have both. You can't be true to yourself and your values and live "happily". I feel like she's saying that, as person, if you're going to choose to stand up for what you think is right, if you're going to choose to live by the values you've chosen, you're choosing to bring pain. When we decide that we're going to do what we believe is right, we're asking to be hurt. In her case, literally asking for death. But what's interesting is that Antigone challenges what is "life". She "spit[s] on [Creon's] idea of life" (42). Because she argues that what Creon is saying is that people should live life just to be "happy", and they can all be "happy", "so long as they "don't ask too much out of life" (42). Antigone isn't really against life, she doesn't want to die in a sense that she just doesn't like living. Antigone "want[s] everything out of life...and she wants it now" (42). But for Antigone, she believes that in order to truly have "life", it doesn't just be going along and breathing. That simply literally being alive isn't life. That how long you live doesn't matter, life hasn't "added" anything to Creon except "lines on [his] face" (42). But for her, by dying, she's living. Because she's doing something for herself, she's standing up for what she believes in, and to her that's what life means. So she wants Creon to put her to death because she's not going to change or succumb to him, she's going to be her stubborn self no matter what even if it brings her death. 

Another contrast that caught my attention was Hope v. Peace. Because, it seems like these go together and that they shouldn't contrast each other or be mutually exclusive. But when Antigone talks about her father, Oedipus, she says that it was until he had "stamped out" all hope that he was truly "at peace". (43). Not until he was sure that "nothing, nothing could save him" (43). I found this unique. Her view that in order to be at peace, one must be without hope. Although there is an interesting argument for it because if you have hope, if you're hoping for something, then it's like you're waiting. (Also interesting to note that waiting has been a huge image repeated over and over thus far). So if you're waiting for something, are you really peaceful? Because once you're waiting for something you're anxious. So if hope means waiting, and waiting means anxious...then you can't be at peace if you have hope. So she suggests that a person must choose either hope or peace. Hope v. Peace could also contribute to Truth v. Lies because since before Oedipus knew the truth, he could have hope that maybe it all wasn't true. But at the same time, with this hope, he didn't know if everything was true, so you have an element of anxiety. He wasn't really at peace. It wasn't until after he knew the truth, there was no hope, that he was at peace.