Antigone Essay, Research Paper
Life?s many ups and downs leads to many options
There are many decisions you will need to make in life. Decisions such as deciding whether or not to make a sacrifice for someone. Every day there are many sacrifices being made. In fact life requires sacrifices to be made. Sacrifices such as dying for someone or choosing something instead of another. People also make sacrifices for what they believe in such as their beliefs or religion. Many people choose to make sacrifices for the people they love and care for such as family and friends. In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone chose to sacrifice her life so her brother?s soul would be safely put to rest.
Antigone was a very loving and caring sister to her brother, Polynices. She had lots of respect for her brother. She refused to let her brother?s soul wander around aimlessly therefore, she wanted to bury him. However, it was against her uncle?s orders to bury Polynices but she refused to listen. Since she had so much respect for her brother, she didn?t care what her uncle?s orders were. Therefore, she was going to do anything she could to bury him, even if it meant that she had to sacrifice her life. She knew it was the right thing to do. As she says here, "I know my duty, where true duty lies," (1.1.78).
Ismene was the other sister of Antigone and Polynices. She however, did not think that her family was important to her. Antigone told Ismene, "is he not my brother, and yours, whether you like it or not?, I shall never desert him, never," (1.1.39) but still Ismene didn?t want to help. Well, maybe she did but she refused to help Antigone bury their brother because she didn?t want to sacrifice her life. She didn?t like the idea of going against her uncle?s orders like as she says here " you cannot mean….to bury him? Against the order," (1.1.38). That showed that she didn?t have enough courage to go against the orders. However, towards the ending of the story she wanted to be a part of the burial but she wasn?t so she didn?t get any credit for it. Antigone however, did bury Polynices all by herself and then later committed suicide.
Many choose to make sacrifices for their loved ones. Now of course family should be the most important, except for God. Most likely everyone would sacrifice their life for a family member. You should because they would probably do the same for you. If you think about how much they do for you and what sacrifices they had made for you throughout life then you would probably decide to sacrifice your life for them. Family is important and they won?t always be there; therefore, you should be able to sacrifice your life for them.
Friends are another reason you might sacrifice your life for. Friends are people who are always there for you when you need them; therefore, you would never what to take them for granted. Many would give up their lives for their friends because they know how important they are. If you care a lot for them and you love them, then you would most likely sacrifice your own life for them. But of course not everybody would because everyone is different and some people are selfish. But if you are a true friend then you would do it for them.
People sacrifice their own lives for their beliefs such as your religion. Many would do anything just because they believe in what is right and they?ll stand up for their beliefs. Some people are so devoted to their religion that they will even sacrifice their own life because of what they believe in. A girl in Colorado was told to say she wasn?t a Christian and she hated them but she refused to; therefore, a guy shot her. That shows that she was a true believer in Christianity and she had much faith in it. Beliefs are very important in people?s lives because they play a big role in some more than others. Different nationalities have different beliefs and therefore people would probably stick up for what they believe in because of their nationality. Since many people hate other religions because they think that the religion they believe in is the correct one; many times it causes problems and arguments just as it did in Colorado. When people choose to die for what they believe in, it shows that they are very faithful and true to what they believe in.
If you do decide to make a sacrifice such as dying for someone or something such as a belief, make sure you really want to do it and if you do then do it. Sacrificing your own life for friends, family, and beliefs or a religion, is a very hard act to do which is probably why you wouldn?t just die for anything. If you think that you are right and what you are sacrifice your life for is a good reason then you should just do it because if you believe it?s a good choice then it probably is.