Both Antigone in the play Sophocles Antigone and Dr. Martin Luther King in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” went against the “law” to do what they thought was right. Both heroes knew about the consequences that came with their actions. Antigone decided to bury her brother, Polyneices, despite the possibility of being killed. Similarly, Dr. Martin Luther King continued protesting and creating speeches peacefully in spite of him being sent to jail.
B. Claim about Reading 1 (state what is the claim that you will be making about your first reading.)
Antigone justified her civil disobedience of giving her dead brother Polyneices the decent burial which is against King Kreon's decree, by knowing well that she has violated the state's law by burying her brother. She then allegedly carries out an act against King Kreon's state law; but it is also an act in accordance to her own conscience
Proof/Point 1 (Evidence in text to support claim. Cite specific sections)
Antigone thought that by understanding if she doesn’t give her brother an appropriate funeral, she is disobeying the gods “For me, therefore, to meet this doom is equal to no grief at all.” (line 465). Hence, we are able to recognize that Antigone values her morality and principle values more than Kreon’s state laws.
Proof/Point 2 (Evidence in text to support claim. Cite specific sections)
Getting caught burying her brother led to Antigone being brought in to face Kreon, the establisher of the immoral decree, while King Kreon unswervingly maintains his law, Antigone symbolizes a peril to the king's status quo. She summons “divine law” in argument of her deed while restraining Kreon's decree as a minor law. Antigone states that "it was not Zeus who made this proclamation; nor was it the justice dwelling with the gods below who set in place these laws… (line 450) and demoralizes Kreon's decree. After all, Antigone feels that gods unwritten laws cannot be altered.
Proof/Point 3 (If necessary)
C. Claim about Reading 2 (state what is the claim that you will be making about your second reading)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested during protests, which led him to write his well-known "Letter From Birmingham City Jail," which encourages civil disobedience against unjust laws for morally correct reasons.
Proof/Point 1 (Evidence in text to support claim. Cite specific section)
Dr. Martin Luther King had always been an avid enthusiast of the civil rights however; incidents and unfair mistreatment of black people in America during the 1950’s inspired his aspiration to become a leader of the Civil Rights movement. King shared his views on the countless conducts of race and nonviolence. He thought that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Proof/Point 2 (Evidence in text to support claim. Cite specific sections)
After years of marches, protests, speeches, and conferences King took the method of large-scale, non-violent denials to obey government orders. Although his protests and speeches caused danger to him and his family and led to his assassination in the end, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had the courage and bravery to rally in contradiction of discrimination and promote love and truth through the act of Civil Disobedience. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Proof/Point 3 (if necessary)
D. Conclusion (state in two to four sentences what is significance about your findings regarding reading 1 and 2)
Many people have broken the law throughout history. A few these individuals have shown the human race the appropriate way to break laws. Individuals like Antigone, and Martin Luther King have exhibited that breaking laws that are unreasonable can be a good thing by producing improvement. Antigone broke the law, and whether it was a good thing is up to each individual reader to decide. The answer to the question of whether Antigone’s actions are justified, however, is a resounding yes. Antigone was justified because of her beliefs in a higher law, and just like Dr. Martin Luther King, more importantly the way in which they broke the civil law. Antigone’s and King’s name belongs next to those other names of the civil disobedient/great social reformers.