The Innocence of Immoral Actions

A very aggravating and disturbing part of Antigone was the sexist and disturbing remarks made by the men of Thebes, specifically Creon.   "Are the men of Thebes personally to blame for their misogynistic actions,  or has the environment they live in warped their minds and opinions?"  Like slavery, the environment plays a large role in their opinions and is a determining factor of how they treat the others around them.  But, this gives them no pardon.  The mysogynists of Thebes are each responsible for their own actions, and should be able to form their own opinions.  Morality should not have to come with so much effort.  Look at slavery, it took America so long to determine what was morally wrong about slavery.  This begs the question," Is there anything the people of today are doing morally wrong, that they don't even know about?".  Well, it is hard to say how our views as a country will change in the future, but certainly our countrys views are different then others. In places like Uganda, it is illegal to be a homosexual and the ultimate penalty is given to any people that are,... death.  It is surprising how differently the world views things, and really demonstrates how our opinions make us who we are, and who others think they are.  Take away the influencing environment and then see who somebody is and what their beliefs are,...would they be free of blame?

Was Antigone cruel to her sister?

Even though Antigone was presumably cruel to her sister, she was actually looking out for her best interest.  It is not possible for a sister to go to such means to bury her brother yet be genuinely cruel to her own, very alive, sister.  There are several times in the play when Antigone says very questionable things to her sister.  For example, Antigone first denies that her sister had anything to do with the crime.  She does this in a way that appears that all Antigone wants is to be the center of attention.  Also, later in the play Antigone states that she is the last member of her house, when Ismene is clearly still alive and well.  As the readers understanding of the play develops, he understands that Antigone is must be purposely trying to make Creon forget about her sister by completely excluding her from the situation.  Also, Antigone's clever personality contributes to the readers understanding of Antigone and her motives.  In conclusion, Antigone cared more about the safety of her siblings than the fame of her death, therefore the only explanation of her cruelty towards Ismene is that she was trying to stealth her from the prosecuting eyes of Creon.

Is an individual ever justified in breaking the law? Why or why not?

Yes, an individual can be justified in breaking the law.  First one must remember why laws are in place; laws are ultimately present in order maintain the safety of society.  The law sometimes cannot ensure someone's safety, and sometimes the law can inhibit one's safety.  Therefore breaking the law is typically justifiable when one's safety is in question.   For example, it is justifiable if one's daughter needs emergency care and he goes over the speed limit so he can get to a hospital faster.  Breaking the law is sometimes necessary; it all depends on the situation.  That is when the judgement of the citizens come into play, and why it is necessary to keep the initial intentions of the law at mind.

Gogol's Insecurity

One of the main intrests in Namesake for me was to see if Gogol will ever lose his insecurity.  He didn't like his name, he chose only non-bengali friends, and was constantly insecure in any social situation about his culture.  Living in an American world, Gogol grew up hating his difference in society.  Although he did not neccesarily become less insecure, it is easy to see why he would be so scarred.  It is a demenstration on how much one truley knows oneself if they doubt their own personality.  At the time the novel finished Gogol still had a loss of self knowledge.

Ashima's True Home

 As the saying goes, "Home is where the heart is", is an important way of grasping Ashima's change of what she considers home.  Initially her heart was in Bengali, all of her family lived down there and she had strict ties to her Bengali culture.  After some time, most of her close family members passed away and she had been starting to adopt many american cutures over in New England.  Once Ashoke died, she really lost her main connection to her past life in Bengali.  She felt home was in America because that is where her heart was.