After analyzing the play Antigone, I came to a realization. A beautiful realization.
The dilemma that is presented to the readers and audience of the play is a similar dilemma that we, yes us Eagles, face today in our own community.
I don’t want to be annoying, and by that I mean all “presidential”. But, just as Antigone is faced with the dilemma of going against the law to do what she thinks is right, we are faced with a similar dilemma in our school elections.
Let me explain. Antigone had to decide between law and honor. If Antigone decides to bury Polynices, then she undermines law. This act would show that personal honor and believes trumps law. Now, if Antigone decides to sacrifice her personal believes by letting Polynices rot, then she shows the audience and readers that law comes first.
Now, which action is right? This truly is a dilemma. Do you put aside your personal believes and honor to follow law? Do you put aside everything you believe is right, just because someone else has told you that the law is what dictates righteousness? What if the law is wrong, and by following it you are doing the wrong thing? On the other side of the coin, what happens when you disregard the law just to do what you think is right? Does this create chaos? Is what you believe more important than what someone else calls “law”? Or is law meant for the greater good?
There is no true answer for these questions. I believe that the answer varies with each situation. In Antigone’s case though the burial was very important to her, by going ahead with the burial chaos would be created by her act. This would show others that the law was not important; this would cause chaos.
Back to my beautiful point. Our school elections are faced with similar dilemmas. Do we vote for our friends or do we do what is right for the school and elect the most able body representatives? Do we bury the man and vote for our friends who are running for positions, do we do what is right as “friends”? But do we do what is best for the Eagle Nest, as a citizen of justice, and vote for those who we really think would do the best for our community? Again it’s personal honor vs. community.
In this case, I believe that we must put aside our friends and personal “obligations” to do what is right for the community. As hard as it may be to seemingly go “against” your friends, in the end you are doing the right thing by thinking of the community first.
The example I brought up in this amazing blog is just one of the many modern day examples of the application of the dilemma found in the play. After reading this play, I started questioning everything. I started wondering whether life today is just one big play, with the same dilemma of Antigone. And then, I realized that this pondering and thinking are the aftermath of reading a good play. Those Greeks were good.
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2 comments:
Nation--it is an amazing blog, and a beautiful realization. That a debate about the nature of political responsibility, leadership, and the duty of citizens to act in the best possible way could implications for a high school student body nearly 3000 years later! Wow! As Little Richard said, "Womp bomp a loo bomp a lomp bam boom."
But I'm questioning one assumption in your argument. If the conflict in school elections is between our friends and "the right thing," are you implying that in the lives of teenagers choosing our friends no matter what has a similar power to that of royal law in Antigone's world?
PS--I forgot to ask: what in the world does it have to do with lemurs???
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