Antigone Paper

Helen Hu
Heather McKey
Hum9
1/30/15
Introductory paragraph:
Laws exist in society to give citizens benefit and to make a peaceful world but some people think the laws are cruel sometimes and not only for citizens, so they want to stand against the laws. Different countries have various solutions for people who break the law. In the United States, the lawbreaker sometimes are seen as in history. However, in China the punishment for lawbreakers is cruel especially in Ancient China. People were killed as soon as they stood on the other side from the king. The conflict in ancient Greek play by Sophacles entitled Italix is whether to follow logos that is gods’ law, our own conscience and belief, or nomos which is monarch’s law, the governments’ law. To follow laws is to support Creon’s idea that monarch’s law should be obeyed all the time. To break laws is to support what Antigone does in this play. She wants to bury his brother, which is not allowed. It is true that everybody has rights to speak out their opinions and injustice exists sometimes, however Creon offers convincing arguments to show that following laws is always a wise choice in the society.
Conclusion paragraph:
            Although Creon is destroyed in the play, his arguments about following the laws are still very strong. Nowadays, we know how important to following laws is. Like in china, our chairman Xi has supreme power and Chinese citizen trust him a lot because from what he is doing, people know that he has the mind to lead china into a good state and he has the ability to protect people. That is why we should follow the laws from the leader who loves his country so much. Like in the play, Creon loves his people and city so people should follow his rules.  Also, in our society in china, laws lead to a peaceful society so people have no reason to break the laws and they are under the well protection of the powerful government and live happily and peacefully. As Creon mentioned that it will lead to the collapse of the city if people stand against the laws. Furthermore, in China, people will get strong punishment like what Creon said in the play that if his people break laws they will get severe punishment. Thus, people do not actually want to be in trouble. They think the laws are good enough even though they sometimes have a little disagreement with it, it does not deserve them to break the law and spend the rest of their life in jail so they follow the laws and people have to compromise to create a peaceful world. In a word, nomos is a lot more important than logos for these reasons.
Outline
Body paragraph
I.                    Topic sentence: Creon argues that people need to follow the law because Creon has power and have the ability to protect city.
Evidence:
1) He loves his city and people so much that he has the mind to guide citizens and protect them. (53)
2) He can see beyond and have more power than others as a ruler of the city. (56)
3) Hubris causes Creon to lose his wisdom and not be a good leader, but his argument that citizens must trust a leader’s ability to protect them is still important. (71)(73)
Body paragraph:
Creon argues that people need to follow the law because Creon has power and the ability to protect city and his people. In the play, Creon loves his city and people so much that he has the mind to guide citizens well and protect them. In the play, Creon said “I will never love a friend more than my city. /I will never put anything or anyone above Thebes. /nothing is more important that our city and her laws.” (53) From his words we can tell that how the city important to him and nothing stands beyond his city. People have a ruler that loves his city so much is their good fortune and the leader wants to lead his city to be good and in prosperity so they should trust that leader. Furthermore, Creon can see beyond and have more power than others as a ruler of the city.  In the play, as Creon said that gods do not respect criminals we know that gods support city’s laws and Creon knew it. He could see beyond and he has supreme power than other people in the city, so people should follow his laws and trust him that he can protect his city and people well. Although hubris causes Creon to lose his wisdom and not be a good leader, his argument that citizens must trust a leader’s ability to protect them is still important. “My lord, Haemon has spoken wisely. /You spoke wisely, too. /There is much wisdom in both father and son.” That is what chorus said. Clearly, it shows the suggestion Heamon has given to his father is wise for not being so proud, but Creon’s point that “a man must obey the law of the city. We must stand with our country, right or wrong. We must be loyal in both war and peace are good and full of wisdom” is still strong. (72) His point is people must follow the laws in any cases. When there is a war and chaos in the society people should under the control of the laws thus they can get peace and be protected. When there is a peaceful society, it is easy for people to agree and follow the laws so they must to follow it. Even though Creon destroyed at last in the play because of his proud, his statement of the importance of following the laws is still strong.

II.                  Topic sentence: Creon also argues that laws must be powerful or we will have chaos.
Evidence:
1)      If people do not follow the laws, the city and citizens will get in trouble. (72)
2)       If the punishment is not that harsh what if there are so many people want to act against the laws like Antigone, the city will not be peaceful.
3)      Because of Creon’s pride, he does not listen to what do people say, in society, laws can be improved in a legal way. (74)

III.                Topic sentence:  In Creon’s side, we must protect the right of the city and citizens even if it means going to against our own family.
Evidence:
1)      Everybody is equal even if they are Creon’s family members. (72)
2)      It will lead to corruption if we see family as a more important thing than city’s law.
3)      People will be far away from the truth if we trust out family all the time and it also causes the chaos in society.



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