Nelson Mandela And Antigone Analysis

In 1948 the South African government took a turn for the worst. The National Party gained power in South Africa and its all-white government began immediately enforcing policies of racial segregation. They called it apartheid which was a policy that discriminated on grounds of race, violating human rights. Under the apartheid the black population of South Africa were unjustly persecuted. They were segregated to the extent that they were stripped of their citizenship. Nelson Mandela was an advocate for racial equality who used nonviolence protests to ultimately create the Anti-Apartheid Movement(AAM). In Sophocles’ Antigone, the main character Antigone is faced with the choice to either follow King Creon’s inhuman law and leave her brother Polynices to rot on the field or give her brother a proper burial and face the wrath of her king. Antigone recognizes that human rights are being violated so she proceeds to bury her brother, and when accepting the consequences she remains nonviolent in the face of power. The qualities of being adherent …show more content…
Nelson Mandela and Antigone remained nonviolent throughout their battles to restore human rights because they possess undying passion and dedication to their causes that allowed them to see clearly and act peacefully. In my opinion, being passionate and dedicated to an idea allows you to go to any extent to make it a reality, is the ultimate victory. Nelson Mandela and Antigone are just two examples of people who were so devoted to what they believed in that they felt they didn 't need violence to prove their point. Staying nonviolent in the face of danger proves just how strong one can be, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “There are many causes I would die for. There is not a single cause I would kill for (Mahatma