Public Duty In Sophocles Antigone

Standing up for what we believe is right, is our public duty, but some people may not see it that way. They may say that one’s public duty is to follow the laws. The purpose of laws is to maintain order, but if they aren’t morally correct to some people, the laws won’t be doing any good. People will be working together to fix the law and that may cause unrest and violence among those who agree and disagree with the law. Public duty is when we have to do what’s good for the public by getting rid of wrong laws. The Declaration of Independence writes this, and clarifies that it as one’s “duty, to throw off such government”. If the laws aren’t right and we stand up for our beliefs, that is our public duty. There is no point in following …show more content…
Antigone buried her brother because that was her public duty since the law was wrong. If she didn’t challenge the law, then the city would have gotten diseased and her brother wouldn’t have found peace in the Underworld. Antigone’s action made King Creon realise that the law should get changed. Finally the law would be correct, thanks to Antigone standing up for her beliefs. Also, public duty is about checking the government, not being oblivious to it. To some people, though, don’t think the government should be challenged since it is a bigger force. They could also be scared of it and don’t think it’s right to stand up against the laws. That mindset is common in people. In the Civil Right movement, some people thought that segregation was unfair, but were too scared to say something and help African Americans obtain their equal rights. Those bystanders don’t make a difference. The Civil Rights marchers and protesters made the difference and eventually got the laws changed. If everyone fulfills their public duty and stands up together, the government won’t be a huge force. There is no reason not to challenge the government. With everyone standing up together, the government laws could be changed. The Civil Rights marchers …show more content…
When a person stands up for something, they feel like they made a difference. Someone can get a good feeling by doing something worthwhile, like standing up for their beliefs. One’s self duty is to make sure that they stand up for what they personally believe in. If a person does something wrong, they feel guilty. But when that person does something correct in their eyes, they feel peace inside because there is no conflict they have to worry about. They listened to their own hearts. Tim O’Brien wrote about the inner struggle he had when he wanted to stand up against the laws that forced him into fighting in the Vietnam War. He didn’t want to fight, since it went against what he believed in. This caused Tim to be stressed, and eventually he tried to run away. There was too much pressure for him to join when he didn’t want to. To get rid of those stressful feelings, he ran away, to show that what the government was doing was wrong, and he needed to escape from going into the war. He made that decision with hope that he would find peace within himself by fulfilling his self duty. Besides peace, confidence makes us feel good. When we are confident in our decisions, we fulfill our self duty. Antigone wanted to fulfill her self duty, so in return was confident when she buried her brother. She was positive that her