Antigone And Letter From A Birmingham Jail Analysis

Sophocles’ â€Å"Antigone† and Martin Luther King Jr.’s â€Å"Letter From a Birmingham Jail† are two works of literature addressing the concept of nonviolent civil disobedience. â€Å"Antigone† is the story of a young woman, who the play is named after, who buries her brother against the law, as he was a traitor. She was then incarcerated and sentenced to death by the king of Thebes and her uncle, Creon. â€Å"Letter From a Birmingham Jail†, as the name implies, was written while King was arrested in Birmingham for leading a public demonstration. The letter is a response to another letter sent by a group of white clergymen criticizing his work, and to a broader extent, is addressed to the church and those who are complacent in the segregation occurring during†¦show more content†¦As described by Ancient History Encyclopedia, Eusebia encompassed the duties of citizens to themselves, each other, and the gods, forming the role a person played in their community. By refusing to honor the dead, one would be considered irreligious. Therefore, by burying Polynices’ body, Antigone believes that she is fulfilling her duty as his surviving family and as a pious person. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up with Christianity, as both his father and grandfather were church officials. His religion heavily influenced his work as an activist, such as the emphasis he puts on kindness, love, peace, and the distinction between the body, soul, and spirit. As he was describing the process that led to the demonstration in Birmingham, King wrote, â€Å"We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community.† (King, Letter From a Birmingham Jail 2). In Christian faith, human beings are believed to have immortal souls that live on after death, as expressed by Bible.org. The use of the word â€Å"bodies† in this quotations illustrates how it is not the soul that is being endangered in the protest, but only the physical form. This correlates with Antigone’s religious and moral principles, as King and his fellow demo nstrators are sacrificing their safety and freedom for their beliefs, and obey and are inspired by their God/gods. To conclude,