Antigone And Station 11 Literary Analysis

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Literary Analysis The rattling of tiny white pills produces a stark array of reactions, from the girl who whimpers, craning her neck away, to the man whose features visibly brighten. Medication for mental illness is a godsend for some, tiny molecules of chemicals being the only way they can face the world, and a personal hell for others -be it a false diagnosis, or the abuse of those pills. The mentally ill of modern times have a host of resources available to them, and many still must bear the burden of suffering in silence. In “primitive” societies, the mentally ill were often treated as subhuman savages, with prisons masquerading as hospitals. In Antigone and Station Eleven, Jean Anoulih and Emily Mandel show a stark contrast of how mental …show more content…

Secondly, Antigone provides a harrowing look of how the mentally ill are treated in her primitive society, starting with her first interactions with another person. In Antigone’s first interactions, she’s speaking with Nan, her nurse, after she’s been up, wandering in the garden. Nan harshly reprimands her, calling her a “naughty girl” and a “brazen hussy”. On the contrary, upon reading this passage, there are two warning flags of Antigone’s mental state: her sleeping habits and her location. Antigone is up at all hours of the night, wandering around the garden, which is clearly out of character for her from Nan’s reaction. If Antigone often strolled about the garden so late, Nan would expect her. Her erratic sleep habit points to a deep distress in her mental state, with one of the main symptoms of depression being oversleeping or avoiding sleep. Additionally, her behavior in the garden is a farewell to the place she holds dear-a clear warning sign of suicide. Had Antigone been a young girl exhibiting this behavior in modern society, the first reaction would most likely be comfort and concern-not flying to

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