Comparing To Kill a Mockingbird and Antigone Essay

Dogs and Disease

Antigone, a Greek tragedy, by Sophocles and To Kill a Mockingbird, a story of prejudice and shedding innocence, by Harper Lee are ironically similar in one way or another. The sad tale of Antigone tells the story of a death-obsessed woman who sacrifices her life, but not her pride, for her brothers burial. Her uncles curse has spread through the city and is steadily getting worse has he does more and more prideful acts. The curse overtakes the city; even the innocent and the dogs cannot escape it. The story of To Kill a Mockingbird on the other hand, tells about the lives of two children growing up in a town engulfed with racism, where only a few can see the true evil of racism. The people of the town are so blind to the harshness of the discrimination they are putting out towards black people that even the symbol of a mad dog cannot remove their blindfold. The dogs in both stories are corrupted with the curses of the towns they reside in.

Because of Antigones Uncle, Creon the King of Thebes, the citys curse has made the one reliable sourcethe godsdisappear almost all together. The gods are deaf when [they] pray to themthe sky is deaf(Ant. 1193,1200). They dont answer them and give the people nothing. The citypeople and animals alikeis infected with the plague Creon has selfishly given it. Creon refuses to give Polyneices a proper burial because he believes that he is a traitor, sentenced Antigone to death, and [has] trampled on Gods right(Ant. 1187). However, this has upset Zeus; Creon has kept from the gods below the child that is theirs(Ant. 1194). There is no way to escape the curse; even the dogs have become infected. Creon is warned over and over about what his prideful acts are doing to the city,

you [Creon] have brought

This new calamity upon us. Our hearths and altars

Are stained with the corruption of dogs

That glut themselves on the corpse of Oedipus son.

The dogs are a symbol for what is happening to the city. Because of Creons actions everyone is being deprived their rights to the gods attention. The curse is no longer just a city problem; the people themselves are being affected individually. Teiresias tries to warn Creon of his errors and how the only crime is pride(Ant.1193). But Creon doesnt listen in time, and his entire family is destroyed. The dogs in this story are a vessel for the curse of Creon. They are the symbol of the plagues impact on Thebes.

In To Kill a Mockingbird the town of Maycomb is corrupted by the curse of racism. Everyone except a select few are so obsessed with skin color that they cannot see how much evil they are committing to the African-Americans. Once in the story, a mad dog comes into the town. This dog was rabid and walked erratically as if his right legs were shorter that his left legs(TKAM 93). One-shot Atticus kills him with one bullet that [is] a little to the right (TKAM 96). I believe this dog represents racism in Maycomb. Throughout the book Atticus fights to destroy racism, but never fully succeeds. Just like with the rapid dog, he hits it but is slightly to the right; he convinces some that racism is wrong, but never the whole town. Also, the dog was motivated by an invisible force that was inching him toward [Scout and Jem]he was alist but he was being pulled gradually toward [Scout and Jem] (TKAM 95). I believe that this is the point Scout and Jem shed their innocence. The racism is being pulled toward them and into their line of vision.