When a person believes in something worth fighting for to the extent of going against authority, he or she risks everything, even their lives, but in doing so, they also risk leaving lasting marks behind. They risk changing the status quo of things and risk changing the lives of people around them, especially their loved ones. The great Spartacus did exactly this as he led a major slave uprising during the Third Servile War against the Roman Republic. Taking their inspiration from Spartacus, others at different times fought for their rights fervently. Pressing situations push people to rebel against authority; in Sophocles’ Antigone and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, different characters rebel against authority.
Antigone and Jaja …show more content…
In Antigone, Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone, questions his father, Creon, when the subject of Antigone’s burial of her brother is brought up, “She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? Death? -She should have all the honor that we can give her” (219). As Haimon defends Antigone’s actions and demonstrates to his father that the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone and the death penalty imposed on her, he in effect is rebelling against his own father. In Purple Hibiscus, Jaja’s mother Mama, a diffident and religious woman is accustomed to obeying the rule of her husband, Papa. Papa thinks himself the infallible head of the household. However, Mama stands up to Papa when she finally feels she has had enough of his abuse which has caused her several miscarriages. Wanting to end the suffering she and her children endure in Papa’s hands, she rebels against Papa by slowly poisoning him. After Papa dies, when it is found that there is poison in the body, Mama immediately confesses to her children that she “started putting poison in his tea before [she] came to Nsukka” (290). Mama poisons her own husband Papa in order to protect her children from his violence. Just as Haimon rebels against his own father Creon, by trying to reason with him in order to defend Antigone, Mama rebels against Papa by ultimately killing him in order to free her children from his extreme militant and abusive authority. In Antigone, Haimon rebels against his own father Creon’s authority, questioning his decision to kill Antigone and trying to save her. In Purple Hibiscus, Mama rebels against her own husband when his violence pushed her to plan his death. She sees no way out for herself and her children but to take the extreme measure of poisoning him to save her children. It is ironic that her son Jaja whom she tries to protect, takes the blame for the
Antigone and Jaja …show more content…
In Antigone, Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone, questions his father, Creon, when the subject of Antigone’s burial of her brother is brought up, “She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? Death? -She should have all the honor that we can give her” (219). As Haimon defends Antigone’s actions and demonstrates to his father that the people of Thebes sympathize with Antigone and the death penalty imposed on her, he in effect is rebelling against his own father. In Purple Hibiscus, Jaja’s mother Mama, a diffident and religious woman is accustomed to obeying the rule of her husband, Papa. Papa thinks himself the infallible head of the household. However, Mama stands up to Papa when she finally feels she has had enough of his abuse which has caused her several miscarriages. Wanting to end the suffering she and her children endure in Papa’s hands, she rebels against Papa by slowly poisoning him. After Papa dies, when it is found that there is poison in the body, Mama immediately confesses to her children that she “started putting poison in his tea before [she] came to Nsukka” (290). Mama poisons her own husband Papa in order to protect her children from his violence. Just as Haimon rebels against his own father Creon, by trying to reason with him in order to defend Antigone, Mama rebels against Papa by ultimately killing him in order to free her children from his extreme militant and abusive authority. In Antigone, Haimon rebels against his own father Creon’s authority, questioning his decision to kill Antigone and trying to save her. In Purple Hibiscus, Mama rebels against her own husband when his violence pushed her to plan his death. She sees no way out for herself and her children but to take the extreme measure of poisoning him to save her children. It is ironic that her son Jaja whom she tries to protect, takes the blame for the