Antigone All My Sons
According to Aristotle, a tragedy is a form of theater that replicates a solemn action with the intention of stirring dread and sympathy in the viewer. Sophocles' Antigone and Arthur Miller's All My Sons both fit into this category. Both stories consist of a tragic hero, Creon and Joe Keller in this instance. According to Aristotle's Poetics, a tragic hero is someone not all good or all bad, and whose downfall is caused by a tragic flaw or "hamartia". Later the hero comes to a realization of their flaw, which usually comes too late for them to redeem themselves. Creon and Keller are both tragic heroes that fit into Aristotle's model, whose downfall is caused by greed, excessive pride and a belated recognition of their flaws. The misfortunes that Creon and Keller bring upon themselves teach us to avoid their mistakes, which is the purpose of all tragedies. Selfish greed for material wealth and power is what causes Creon and Keller to make the serious mistake that ultimately ruins their lives. Keller ships out the cracked engine heads because his factor
y would bankrupt otherwise. He wanted money, a house, and a good, wealthy life for his family. His intentions are good, but he is wrong putting others at risk for his own prosperity. "Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. (59)." This shows Keller's selfishness in sacrificing other people's lives for his son's career. Likewise, Creon decides to kill Antigone because he wants to appear as the all-powerful ruler of Thebes. He feared that any pardoning of Antigone would detract from his power as king. These examples show us that as common people, we should always put others into concern when making decisions. Don't do things out of selfishness that may hurt others, because it will eventually get back at you, whether it's just remorse or some kind of physical punishment. Don't let greed eat away at your heart, and be humane and respectful to all. After the initial mistake, Creon and Keller's attitude toward what they had done brings out one of their most significant characteristics. Tragedies all consist of a hero with one or more inescapable flaws, often several of the seven deadly sins. These flaws cause the hero to make a serious error that eventually causes his/her life to crumble. Tragic heroes are all similar to the common man, who is anything but perfect. They are also alike amongst themselves, because they are created to teach us the same lesson. Now and then, we learn from tragedies as common people to avoid making the same errors the tragic heroes make. By doing this, we can perhaps live a better, happier life.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2129
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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