Name: Luc Olsthoorn

Section: 1D66

TA: Matthew

Date: October 29th

Malcolm X was a revolutionary. Malcolm X used physical violence to overthrow the oppression that the white man created in the 1960's, after his peaceful revolutions failed. Antigone, from Antigone by Sophocles, was a revolutionary. Antigone attempted to disobey Creon, the king of Thebes, after an unjust burial of her brother. Malcolm X and Antigone were both revolting against their oppressors. In both cases we can see similarities in the use of physical actions in their revolutions, but the way that they accepted help was different. Where Antigone relied on herself, Malcolm X used the power of the people surrounding him to change societies views.

Both Malcolm X and Antigone use physical violence similarly. At first they both attempt to conquer their oppression nonviolently, but ultimately they become violent, when their non-violent plans do not work. Antigone had a calm demeanor at the beginning of the play. She just asserts what she wants, and when the law does not grant her wishes, she buries her brother herself, fully conscious of the consequences. In the pursuing scenes she tries to use logic and morality to justify her actions. Creon being the king realizes that since she is a women, it would upset society if he fell to her pleas, so upon hearing of her argument Creon ordered her to death row for her crimes, despite her points being admittedly valid (Antigone 540). She knew that being killed by Creon would mean that Creon had won, he had conquered her, and essentially conquered the whole female gender. So she decided to protest in a non-peaceful way, killing herself which she assumed to be the only way to get her point across. Not only did she do this violent protest to herself, it also led to Haimon killing himself with a sword (Antigone 1015). Because of this protest, she ultimately "defeats" Creon, who begs for death, due to all of his loved ones dying. Similarly Malcolm X started off with a non-violent approach to protest. He began his movement by preaching on the Islam ideals he picked up in prison. He began speaking and after a few weeks hundreds of African Americans joined the Nation of Islam month after month to hear him preach(Marable 122-123). However, as time went on he realized these speeches were not going to be enough to give him the equality of people that he wanted, so he decided he needed to take a more radical, physical action. In his speech ballot or the bullet, he persuades blacks to do just that - vote, but if the government does not grant them rights, take action, including violence. Eventually Malcolm X became very violent, at one point recruiting some of the hardest gang members from when he was a gangster to come to LA to fight the police after several brutal shootings (Marable Ch. 7). These violent outbreaks occurred more frequently with Malcolm X until eventually, he was shot and killed. However because of his inspiration, the Civil Rights movement became successful in granting African Americans more equality. In totality, as seen in both Antigone and in Malcolm X their protests started nonviolently, but became violent when they realized they could not get what they wanted without the use of violence. However it is duly noted that the violence led to the success of their movement, but ultimately their death as well.

Although Antigone and Malcolm X were similar in there approach to physical action, they were different in the way they gathered support for their cause. Malcolm X rallied the support of people. He joined the Nation of Islam, which was a group of passionate individuals who helped him attain his goals of equality. In the Nation of Islam he is largely credited with the group's dramatic increase in membership between the early 1950s and early 1960s (from 500 to 25,000 by one estimate)(Lomax pg 15-16). These people would attend rallies which were meant to change the way society felt about African Americans. Because of their help, the Civil Rights movement got much further then it would have, if it would have solely been rallied for by Malcolm X. Antigone, on the other hand, seeks her pursuit of justice by herself. To begin she acts on her own from the beginning, burying her brother herself when Ismene declines the offer to join her. In addition when Ismene offers her support to take a portion of responsibility for the crime, Antigone refuses to allow her offer, saying "No, Ismene. You have no right to say so. You would not help me, and I will not have you help me." (432, Antigone). This is because her rebellion is centered on her challenging the patriarchal society, which can only be done by showing she is an independent women who does not need any help to accomplish what she wants. It is obvious that Malcolm X and Antigone fought for what they believed in, but did so differently by the way they used other peoples help.

Oppression is something that is engraved in societies DNA. Throughout the history of time we have seen groups that have been oppressed, the Jews in Egypt, the women in Ancient Greece and the African Americans in the 1960's americas, to list a few. However, throughout history we have also seen the overthrowing of oppression. Sometimes it took just one life, to forever change the course of thousands of lives, like the case of Antigone. However, more usually, it takes the support of many people to change societies corrupt views, as seen with Malcolm X. These oppressions should really never happen. There should never really be a need for a person or a group of people to make a sacrifice just to undo what the oppressors have instantiated. For everybody to lead a good life, each constituent of the society needs to be aware of their surroundings, and recognize when oppression happens and act on it before it is too late. Realize that like Malcolm X and Antigone you could be the change society needs, you just have to keep your eyes peeled and act appropriately.

SOURCES

Sophocles, and Richard Emil Braun. Antigone. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. Print.

Lomax, Louis E. When the Word Is Given; a Report on Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and the Black Muslim World. Cleveland: World Pub., 1963. Print.

X, Malcolm, and George Breitman. Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches & Statements. New York: PathfinderR, 1989. Print.

Marable, Manning, and Leith Mullings. Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: An African American Anthology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print

**NOTE: I hope its fine I used external sources, I wanted it to be a more comprehensive essay. In addition I did not preform a cookie cut version of the essay, so I am sorry for making it harder to grade this essay. Also thanks for the helpful hints on my outline. ~Luc

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