In Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and Antigone by Sophocles, the main characters are both faced with conflicting values between the values of an individual and the values of the society. Siddhartha pursues an individual journey to enlightenment to find the universal meaning of the good life or Nirvana. Whereas, Antigone struggles in following state law’s versus following her own morals concerning the burial of her brother, Polyneices. Although the readings have similar aspects of the both characters valuing themselves more, there are differences between Siddhartha valuing his religious journey and Antigone valuing her noble journey while resisting in conforming to society’s gender inequality.
The main characters, Siddhartha and Antigone, in the readings both chose to value the individual over the value of society by following their own path and going against the …show more content…
Another, situation that occurred in Siddhartha that reveals his individualistic values is when he leaves Govinda to seek enlightenment by himself. Siddhartha states that “’Tomorrow, O, Govinda, I will leave you”’ as he tells Govinda to stay and learn from the Buddha’s teachings (Hesse 30). Siddhartha statement provides factual evidence that he would much rather prefer to be isolated from society than to be include in it. The society norms would be to stay and learn from others teachings however, Siddhartha refuses and continue his journey as an individual rather than be a part of the community. This compares to Antigone’s mindset of valuing an individual because she goes against society norms like Siddhartha. In Antigone, Antigone is faced with a complex decision of following society’s orders or following her own beliefs and burying her brother. Antigone chose to go against the society views and provide her brother with a burial. She states that “’…but I shall bury him./ To me it’s fine to die performing such
The main characters, Siddhartha and Antigone, in the readings both chose to value the individual over the value of society by following their own path and going against the …show more content…
Another, situation that occurred in Siddhartha that reveals his individualistic values is when he leaves Govinda to seek enlightenment by himself. Siddhartha states that “’Tomorrow, O, Govinda, I will leave you”’ as he tells Govinda to stay and learn from the Buddha’s teachings (Hesse 30). Siddhartha statement provides factual evidence that he would much rather prefer to be isolated from society than to be include in it. The society norms would be to stay and learn from others teachings however, Siddhartha refuses and continue his journey as an individual rather than be a part of the community. This compares to Antigone’s mindset of valuing an individual because she goes against society norms like Siddhartha. In Antigone, Antigone is faced with a complex decision of following society’s orders or following her own beliefs and burying her brother. Antigone chose to go against the society views and provide her brother with a burial. She states that “’…but I shall bury him./ To me it’s fine to die performing such