Authored before or in 441 BC at a time of national enthusiasm, exposing the dangers of absolute ruler also referred as a tyrant. In the play setting, this played by Creon, a king whom people could hardly give their opinion about him. Despite regretting his actions as the play ends, the impact of ruthless of his rule is far much felt among his people. Likewise, in recent years, almost the same scenario is being depicted through the war in countries such as the case of War in Darfur. The war in Darfur has been a major armed conflict in Darfur, Sudan since 2003. The eruption of the war due to the accusation of the government oppression of the non-Arab population in the country. The fight against the government of Sudan was led by Sudan liberation movement (SLM), and justice and Equality movement (JEC) (Srinivasan 28). This essay provided an analysis for the play Antigone with reference to the war in Darfur. Authoritarian leadership has been regarded as the catalyst to civil wars. This is due to the idea that, this approach to leadership is based on marginalization and coercion. Taking the case of Sudan, the essay studies the way in which the war in Darfur has been fought as well as demonstrating how this can be compared to the Antigone.
The war in the Darfur region of Sudan began in February 2003 when Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) rebel groups declared a fight against the national government of Sudan. The rebel groups fought for the freedom of Darfur’s non-Arab citizens. Likewise, Antigone shares a similar conflict between the will of people and the government. The government led by Creon oppressed Antigone hence causing endless suffering to the people. In both cases, the government was responsible for all pain since it had failed to serve the needs of its citizens. The population on either side had decided to fight against torture and mismanagement.
According to the nature of decisions made by leaders in both regions, it is evident that there was tension between fate and individual will. Free choice is apparent when Antigone decides to defy the Creon’s edict. Fate is responsible for most devastating and critical events evident during the conflict. The importance of the outcome is that characters cannot be blamed for their actions entirely. In the play, some of the characters seem to control their destinies more than others. The individual decision causes more trouble and suffering to the opponent since the choice is always in favor of the government (Katz N/A). In the play, Creon decides whether Antigone should bury her brother with dignity. According to Antigone, she decides to seal her fate by defying Creon through conducting the burial of her brother Polynices. Every citizen has a right to be buried with dignity. However, Creon decides to make his great decision that will see Polynices rot in the streets.
Darfur conflict also portrays the deliberate and systematic destruction of goods and property due to political differences. Fate and Will was misunderstood by his government of Sudan when the rebel groups emerged to protest against the continuous disregard of the non-Arab population. The rights of the non-Arabs were similar to the rights of Arabs as per the constitution of Sudan. However, the government made an illegal decision that led to deaths and the displacement of a vast population (Johnson, 216). After the government had moved to unreasonable extremes, the rebel groups started protesting for their rights. In case of a protest, the government is responsible for cooling down the situation and solve the issues. The dialogue between the government and the rebel group is the fate of any conflict. In this situation, the government went to a decision of funding Arab militias with weapons to fight the rebel groups. The decision brought a lot of misery and death of some people since the troop terrorized the region.
The conflicts dedication and persistence behavior towards the accomplishment of the mission is a driving force evident in both cases. Creon has a belief of ordering punishment towards the breaking of his law (Holland, 6). When the messenger reports that Antigone had buried her brother, Creon becomes and vows not to stop until Antigone is punished. On the other side, Antigone belief is that her brother must be buried despite the role of Creon. Likewise, the Sudan government and the rebel groups stop at nothing before fulfilling their beliefs. The government continues funding the Arab militias and restrict all development organizations from providing food to the non-Arabs (Srinivasan 32). At the same time, the rebellion group continues fighting despite the wild wars that humiliated and reduced their morale. Different people were ready to sacrifice their lives all in the name of freedom.
Compassion is a kind of love for people facing hard times. In the play, Eurydice was unable to get over the death of her elder son Mergareus. The lady faints due to the love and compassion of her children. Eurydice serves as a reminder of the inhuman actions of her husband, Creon. According to Eurydice, Creon’s actions act as the catalyst of the deaths of all friends and family members. During the moment of her suicide, the messenger captures the cry of Eurydice towards the end of their eldest son killed during his battle with Polyneices and Eteocles. Eurydice blames Creon for the death of their son basing on his poor decisions. The love of a country is not evident with the government of Sudan. The rebellion fighters left their families and marched toward the equipped army. During the war, the warriors were humiliated by the deaths of their family and lack of support from the African Union due to the harsh movement created by the government. The Sudanese government officials deny non-Arab freedom to exercise rights created to serve all citizens.
The Sudan government shows weakness in leadership due to their greed of power. According to the legal solutions of the conflict, the government was supposed to involve some members of the government in the region. In order to resist this sacrifice, the government declared war against the peaceful protesters. A similar case is evident with Creon family dying because of his father’s greed of power. Haemon killed himself after the death of Antigone, who unjustly committed suicide by hugging herself due to pressure from Creon. Eurydice also kills herself by thrusting a sword through her heart due to the death of her two sons killed because of Creon’s actions. Creon made weird decisions that killed his family in exchange of power. Despite the difference in the time frame between the writing of Antigone and the war in Darfur, the exists some comparable aspects as both types of leaders focus on the win, regardless of what cost incurred. The ruthlessness costs the nations more in terms of human resources
Works cited
Holland, Nancy J. "Tyranny and Blood: Rethinking Creon." Philosophy and Literature 41.1 (2017): 1-11.
Johnson, Holly, Janelle Mathis, and Kathy G. Short. "Re-Imagining an Alternative Life after the Darfur War: Writing as Emancipatory Practice Vivian Yenika-Agbaw." Critical Content Analysis of Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Routledge, 2016. 116-131.
Katz, Andrew. “Inside Sudan’s War-Torn Darfur.” Time.Com, Apr. 2015, p. N.PAG.
Srinivasan, Sharath. “Negotiating Violence: Sudan’s Peacemakers and the War in Darfur.” African Affairs, vol. 113, no. 450, Jan. 2014, pp. 24–44.
