Antigone Mistakes Essay

Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Some mistakes are little and others are big. An example of a big mistake is when Bill Clinton lied to everyone in the United States. An example of a small mistake is when someone does not say “thank you” when someone else does a favor for him or her. In the play Antigone by Sophocles there is a quote that says that everyone makes mistakes but a good person would acknowledge it and do the right thing instead. In the play Antigone there are two characters who are arguing and they both think they are right, but one of them made a mistake. These two characters are Antigone and Creon. Creon does not want to bury Antigone’s brother because he believes he is a traitor. Antigone thinks this is unfair and buries him herself even though Creon strictly forbids it. Creon becomes angry and imprisons Antigone. This is a mistake because she kills herself, which causes Creon’s son to kill himself. This tragic event causes Creon’s wife to kill herself. Creon’s pride gets in the way and he does not admit he is wrong until everyone is dead which is at the end of the play. Mistakes can ruin people’s lives. Most of the time mistakes hurt people and we make them for different reasons like anger, pride, arrogance, fear, prejudice, among others. Sometimes mistakes can be fixed or repaired, sometimes they cannot. The reality is that mistakes are part of human beings’ daily life.

Anger is the cause of people’s biggest mistakes. When someone is angry he acts crazy. Sometimes these mistakes are irreparable. Like in the play Antigone, Creon becomes furious with Haemon when Haemon, his own son, says that Creon is wrong. Creon comes back with “ ‘I swear that you shall not bandy words with me and repent it... I will have her killed at once, before her bridegroom’s very eyes’ ” (l. 743). This mistake causes Creon to only see Haemon once before Haemon died. When Creon sees his son, Haemon spits on Creon’s face and tries to stab his father but misses. Haemon becomes so angry that he kills himself. Creon does not know that these rude words to are a mistake but finds out when his son died. Anger makes people irrational like Creon and Haemon in the play. At the end anger dominates our reason, and we can make mistakes that later on we will regret.

Pride and stubbornness are other causes of mistakes. In the play, Creon makes a mistake by imprisoning an innocent woman. He is told that he is wrong many times. However, he does not do anything until Teiresias, a seer, tells Creon that something bad will happen if Creon does not free Antigone. He knows what he is doing is wrong but does not want to admit it because of his pride and ego. His stubbornness causes his family to die. Like Teiresias said, “ ‘It is the stubborn man who is a fool’ ” (l. 990).