Comparing Bradbury's Macbeth, And Sophocles Anti

In a world filled with ecological and geographical diversity, humans have many enemies. While the debate over which foe is the most formidable, one can make the argument that mankind’s worst enemy is not a different species at all, but themselves. When talking about humans as their own enemies, an individual’s character traits have detrimental effects on said individual and those around them. Works of literature highlighting these traits and their effect on characters include Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Knowles’ A Separate Peace, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Sophocles’ Antigone. Authors incorporate these traits into texts to support the claim; humans are their worst enemies. In a world filled with diversity, humans are their own worst enemy by …show more content…
Whether the pettiness is out of revenge, envy, or another reason, being petty has the possibility of backfiring horribly. In A Separate Peace, Gene and Finny are inseparable best friends, until their friendship slowly begins to deteriorate due to their differences athletically and academically. When talking about the possibility of Gene winding up as head of their class, Finny claims Gene has no chance to beat Chet Douglas. But while sitting at his desk, Gene realizes, “Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies. That explained blitzball, that explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society.” (Knowles 53). When Finny tells Gene their friend Leper plans to jump from the tree, he decides to go along with Finny. The two get to the tree and Finny proposes the idea of a double jump, Gene accepts, and when the two get on the limb, “[he] jounced the limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at [Gene] for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways.” (Knowles 60), displaying Gene’s pettiness in response to his idea of Finny setting out to sabotage his grades. Petty actions have a negative effect on the characters in Antigone as well. When Creon orders the burial of Polyneices, a soldier who led a rebel army against Creon and Thebes, Polyneices’ sister Antigone is defiant against Creon and buries Polyneices. When arguing with Creon over her actions, Antigone …show more content…
Creon’s son Haemon, engaged to Antigone, confronts Creon about Antigone and after insulting him, storms off. After Creon decides to free Antigone, he discovers Haemon hunched over her dead body and after failing to kill Creon, Haemon kills himself. As Creon makes his way back with Haemon’s body, he remarks, “Why doesn’t somebody take/ a two-edged sword to me?/ the dark is on me too./ I’m at bay in guilt and grief.” (Sophocles 72), highlighting the regret and guilt Creon has after making a decision out of