Antigone

Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yields when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil: The only

Crime is pride.

                This is an excerpt from the play Antigone by Sophocles. Although the section is short, sweet, and to the point, it’s full of meaning. Sophocles puts forth the opinion that since everyone makes mistake, the only people that are bad are those that don’t give up when they know that they’re at fault. I would consider his words to be very true; the only crime is pride.

                Sophocles is a playwright, and with that job comes the obligation to make things dramatic. When he says that the only crime is pride he is generalizing for the effect of drama. Obviously prideful people aren’t the only criminals in the world. Many things are actually crimes, like setting fire to someone’s car to running naked through a crowded shopping mall. What Sophocles means is that the only moral crime is pride.

                From the beginning of man people have been doing things that were considered bad. Stealing food, money, and land have persisted since people first hunted, minted coins, and held private property.  If you’re convicted of such an offense, you will most likely be punished, and that’s the way it is. What Sophocles is saying is that it doesn’t matter what physical crime you commit, it’s how you own up to it.

                Growing up around a parent that works in and around a jail has influenced me greatly. I often hear stories about criminals that have seen the light, whether it be religious or otherwise. They then recognize that they were wrong in doing what they did to earn them a spot in the orange jumpsuit. Many of these people will still live in chains for the rest of their days, but they will be absolved – perhaps not in the eyes of others, but in the only way that counts – in their own eyes.

                Examples of pride can be seen everywhere, especially among the stubborn. My father, for example, has a “stubborn streak a mile wide.” He will start something and not let anyone tell him how to do it better, even if he’s being so counterproductive that it hurts to watch. When he’s presented with a better way to do it, then obviously the better, more efficient way is wrong. Pride certainly frustrates the hell out of everyone, even if you don’t call it a crime.

                Everyone makes mistakes; it’s the nature of trying. Owning up to those mistakes is important, though. It makes us better people by realizing that we were wrong. The enlightened criminal is still a criminal in all the legal ways, but he’s free as a bird in all the ways that count. (462)