Cagla Bengi

Professor Vignola

Core English II

11/2/2021

Ideas We Believe and Follow Against Everything

Antigone is the play which is written by Sophocles in 441 BC. Sophocles is one of the

most famous Greek Tragedian authors in history. What he disposed of with Antigone is civil

disobedience. The play starts with the regulation of the King after the battle two brothers fought

each other and kill each other. King orders not to bury one of the bodies, Antigone is the sister of

dead brothers and when she heard King’s order, she made her decision not to change forever. At

the same time, Antigone is Haimon’s fiancée who is King’s son. Neither King nor Antigone

gives up their decisions, as the play goes on, she buries her brother’s body in the way how she

thinks and believes, and King kills her in the way how he thinks and believes. The play continues

different characters try to explain to King that he is doing something wrong. On the other hand,

Ismene who is Antigone’s sister tries to explain that she needs to change her mind because “We

are only women, we cannot fight with men, Antigone!” (Antigone). At the end of the play,

are more killed bodies than just Antigone’s bodies. King finally gives up and he accepts that

he does something too wrong to cause him to not only lose his son also his wife.

Nevertheless, it is too late.

V for Vendetta is the story of the revolution that happened in 2020 in England. V is

the super mysterious and intelligent main character of the movie. The story starts with V
rescuing Evey on the night of that curfew. The regime that is happening in London is the

dictatorship regime, the community does not have their freedom but moreover, they are not

aware of it, until they see V on TV that he tells he is going to change everything after a year.

And all he wants is the people's support. While Evey solves V's mystery step by step, also

she starts to know about herself and V's values, and his past. After all of these, everything

with V makes more sense for her. V's plan is to make society awake by blowing up

government buildings on the 5th of November. At the end of the movie, V left whole the

society awake that goes and supports him that night to the viewer but he, himself could not

make it because he is fearless of death. Both Antigone and V first, believe in their values

regardless of if they are against King’s and High Chancellor's values, second, both protagonists

take the action even though the end of their ways will be death. Since Antigone was killed for

sake of believing the honorable thing is to bury her brother and V followed his idea whereas he

knows they kill him yet just his body, not his ideas.

As an individual from the generation of Z, the meaning of civil disobedience does not

practical for the majority of the young population. Since it we have not been exposed to

restrictions or regimes such as dictatorship or our society has not been governed by King besides

as a symbolic. Nevertheless, Antigone lived thousands of years ago in a monarchy but she was

able to find her voice even against King. When it is imagined people are surrounded by the idea

of just obeying to King. For instance, Ismene says, “The law is strong, we must give in to the law

in this thing, and in worse” (Antigone). What Antigone did must be too rare. However, although,

the closest person in her life tried to change her mind, she did not get lost in her value and what

she believed. When she asked Ismene if she could be willing to help her sister to bury their

brother’s body, she understood that Ismene is afraid of breaking the law. “You have made your
choice; you can be what you want to be” (Antigone). The approach of Antigone shows that

nevertheless, how the system does work for society only thing they know is to acquiesce to King,

she has a strong belief in what she thinks, and she can be. Besides Antigone, Evey realized the

same characteristic in a man in mask.

The scene in the movie when Evey askes V who is he is is one of the first scenes. As he

recognized the difference that who is he does not as matter as what he does very early in the

movie. “Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask”

(V for Vendetta). This distinction is not the only concrete one in V’s mind. Also, another

description that may match with this is, “ideas” might be endless. Since movie starts with an idea

that caused to happen big historical event years and years ago. “We are told to remember the idea

and not the man because the man might be killed but 400 hundred years later an idea can still

change the world” (V for Vendetta). In V’s world ideas were crucial because when they are also

filled by desire, there is nothing to stop it to happen. Furthermore, just like Antigone how she

took the honorable action according to her values, V ended his life because he meant to follow

his values throughout his life and this is how he says it, “What was done to me created me” (V

for Vendetta). This phenomenon might be supported with the study hosted by An American

Addiction Center Resource, and what they figured out is “Part of the human journey involves the

gradual rediscovery of these innate and highly personal desires, which get unconsciously hidden

away when they are seen to conflict with society's demands. (American Addiction Center)” What

we can claim is that there were the years that we know from short flashbacks in the movie, those

years are also his personal desires occurred in, created him, who man in a mask and goes against

the society’s demands. On the other hand, Antigone was committed to her ideas as well. Along

with, if the distinction is applied to Antigone, there is a coherent part that Creon defined
Antigone just as a presence of a female. Creon and his ally Chragos started to focus on what she

did too late after they only judge the one who is just represented the female figure. By saying,

“Who is the man here” (Antigone). Thus both stories discussed the regardless of their

presence and how still they follow their ideas with different examples and approaches but

emphasizing the difference between, what protagonists did and who are they, is a convenient

way to lay the groundwork for civil disobedience.

In both beginnings of the stories, the communities have unquestionable obedience to

their King and the High Chancellor. However, V explained this to his country’s sleeping

community, when he gets the TV which all London televisions are controlled by only one

power which is definitely as High Chancellor’s order. “I know why you did it. You were

afraid of war, terror, disease. Fear got the best of you” ( V for Vendetta). Before this, he

made them face themselves because there were more guilty people more than others but the

whole community need to only look into a mirror to see the guilty one. High Chancellor

played with the country’s common sense by having the advantage of the bad time they were

in. Nevertheless, Antigone did not take any part to talk to in front of Thebes people but she

also knew that how Ismene was concerned and afraid about what Creon said. “Ask Creon.

You’re always hanging on his opinions” (Antigone). This situation was not acceptable for

both protagonists, Antigone would probably agree with V in his this idea, “People should

not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people” (V for

Vendetta). The feeling of fear made people in London blind until they are awakened by V.

Death is another phenomenon that has been worked on constantly during both pieces.

As the protagonists go against governments who have power, unfortunately, misuse of

power can be fatal. However, death is part of the process for both Antigone and V. What
they have in common and is miserable is they already lost the people they love, their

families. The fact that Antigone accepted the being death since the beginning of the play,

during her conversation with Creon, “ I knew I must die, even without you decree: I am

mortal. And if I am only mortal..” (Antigone, 365) Most likely, it can be said that “death” is

only a symbol of their action which they remain it to change the world after them. One of

V’s last sentences, before he gave his last breath, is “For 20 years I sought only this day.

Nothing else existed” (V for Vendetta). Another evidence that V is not afraid of death and

he labored his last two decades for the day he can awaken the community. Distinctively,

after both protagonists died in the play and movie, circumstances varied from each other.

While the viewer still does not know if anything changed in Thebes for that time after

Antigone but after the 5th of November the whole of England was awake by man’s idea, a

man in mask. “Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask, there is an

idea Mr. Creddy, and ideas are bulletproof (V for Vendetta). The idea caused him to change

the world, even though his body's mortality.

To conclude, at certain points, both stories have common and different parts.

Notably, we declared that there are concrete two main phenomena for both protagonists.

First, their commitment to follow their values regardless of power, and second, the fact that

death, they took every action even though they know they are going to die at the end of the

path. Still, death was seen to them just as a symbol because they wanted to change the world

with their ideas and with their values. The terms of being blind and sleeping are key points

that I emphasized before, that’s why V for Vendetta and Antigone need to be watched and

read because if you are also one of them, it might be hard to find someone who tells you

need only look into a mirror.

 Works Cited

Sophocles. “Antigone.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 13th ed., New York, London, W.

W. NORTON & COMPANY, 2019, pp. 1602-1634.

V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 2005. Moore, Alan, et al. V for Vendetta.

An American Addiction Center. “Values and Morals Clarification: Value Changes.” Mental
Help Values and Morals Clarification Value Changes Comments, Mental Help, 11 Nov.
2021, https://www.mentalhelp.net/self-help/values-and-morals-changes/