Civil Disobedience in Famous Literature

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Civil Disobedience in Famous Literature

A society or a people cannot let a government lead them blindly. With misrepresentation comes a whole new form of unjustness. The strong are the ones who do not give into demands placed upon them if they do not agree; those who refuse to conform to society; those who stick to their beliefs, no matter the cost. In many cases, those people are the ones who practice civil disobedience. Martin Luther King, Henry Thoreau, Socrates… All advocated that they should not be denied their freedom, and all were considered disobedient.

The government rules itself not by appealing to man’s “sense, intellectual or moral, but only through his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength.” (Thoreau) At a certain point, government does nothing but put fear upon its subjects, so that they would rather obey the law than risk the consequence of not. Such an example in seen in Sophocle’s renowned play, Antigone. In the story, Ismene portrays the role of a submissive sister, who’s obedience to law blinds he...

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