A Comparison Between the Works of Assata Shakur and Socrates

Assata Shakur and Socrates are both legends in their own aspectsiSocrates’ story comes from the past and Assata Shakur‘s life and incidences happened more recently. However, their stories are extremely similar to one another. They were both placed in predicament of being unfairly imprisoned Although for different reason. Shakur and Socrates also chose different ways to go about solving their problem Socrates chose to follow Athen‘s government decision of death instead of giving in to his supporters ideas to escape prison.

However, Assata Shakur went against the United States government and went into exile and into the protection of Cuba, Shakur left America to escape injustices, by doing this she was escaping death. Socrates welcomed death in Crito, In the Trial and Death ofSocrates, Crito and Phaedo consisted of the four dialogues from the book.

In the dialogue Crito, Socrates’ old friend, whose name is Crito, visits him in his cell in the morning He comes to warn Socrates that his execution day will arrive within the next few days and Crito pleads for Socrates to escape prison. After all, the law has wrongly convicted him in the first place. After listening to Crito’s explanation, Socrates still has his mind set on following through with the punishment the government gave to him. His reasoning was first that what other people thought did not matter and that they should just focus on following the law, Another reason he mentions is the social contract he has with his country He was very aware of the rules,yet, did not abide by them because they conflicted with his moral compassfle felt that he was to follow the Athen’s laws and that leaving into would go into breaking the law which were against his morals.

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That breaking these laws would be setting a bad example for others and cause chaos as he says “What do you mean by trying to escape, but to destroy us the laws, and the whole city, so far as in you lies?”‘ He also states that a true philosopher strives and welcomes death as it is the final enlightenment, In Assata Shakur “Live from Cuba”, Shakur explains how the United States government start targeting her and her peers with the FBI as an initiative to deter their efforts for civil rights and justice.2 This is what lead up to her getting wrongly accused of killing a New Jersey cop. She is then imprisoned although they did not have evidence it was her who shot him, Even though she was in prison, she was determined to still fight for freedom Unlike Socrates, Shakur used the aid of her peers to escape into exile to the protective country of Cuba Instead of waiting for fate and stay in jail because the law states to obey the rules.

Shakur decided to break free to expose the unjust laws and policies in the US, I feel that she is trying and fighting to reclaim her freedom and the freedom of her peers Although she is a fugitive in the law of the United States, she did so because the laws are unjust for her and other people to live under at that time It shows that although laws set in place by the government, does not mean that they are just and deserves to be followed through by those it governs, In conclusion, though both Socrates and Shakur are both philosophers who were not appreciated in their own countriestThey both endured equally tough decisions to make regarding to their acts forjusrice. Shakur’s decided to flee to Cuba where she was granted political asylum. Socrates decided to stay and face his punishment of death because he felt like it was the right thing to do Athens was his home and he was highly aware about their social contract In both cases, the philosopher’s showed signs of great strength and bravenesst.