Antigone and Lamb to the Slaughter Comparison

Rebellion in Antigone

Every person has a rebellious side to them which eventually leads to their downfall. This is clearly demonstrated by King Creon in Antigone, as Sophocles illustrates Creon as a rebellious character, who takes rough decisions without thinking of the outcome. Creon’s character also illustrates anger through his actions and the way he talks. Similarly, these tragic flaws are also found in Mary Maloney in Lamb to the slaughter by Roald Dahl. She kills her husband in the rage of anger because he tells her that he will leave her, also later in the story the author illustrates her character as a rebel when she feeds the police officers the weapon her husband was killed with.

Although these two characters share similar characteristics of anger and rebellion, the greatest downfall is clearly demonstrated by King Creon.

Creon’s rebellious nature and his wrath, which is anger, clearly demonstrates the reasons that lead to his downfall. His initial act of rebellious occurs when he disobeys the laws of god, and refuses to bury Polyneices, because he was a traitor and he tried to destroy the city of Thebes as he says that “He made war on his country” (Sophocles, Antigone 1084).

When Creon was asked to obey the god’s law and bury Polyneices with honor he says, “An enemy is an enemy, even dead” (Sophocles, Antigone 1085). Furthermore, Creon’s anger made him take rough decisions without thinking of the outcome and he decides to kill Antigone and tells her to “Go join them, if you must have your love, find it in hell” (Sophocles, Antigone 1085), despite the fact that she will be marrying his son.

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However, Tiresias, a blind prophet, warns him “No, you will find them too costly” (Sophocles, Antigone 1100), meaning his anger and rebellion acts against the gods will cause him to suffer, but Creon mocks him saying “No doubt, speak: whatever you say, you will not change my will” (Sophocles, Antigone 1100). When Creon finally realizes and decides to take action, it’s too late and he finds out that his son, his wife, and Antigone have all died. Altogether, king Creon’s rebellious nature and anger severely contributes to his downfall.

Mary Maloney’s Anger

Identically, Mary Maloney, a pregnant woman who kills her husband Patrick, when he tells her that he will leave her. Mary Maloney’s initial act of anger occurs when she “…simply walked up behind him and without any pause, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head…” (Roald Dahl, Lamb to The Slaughter 2). However, after she kills her husband, she has no regret and the author illustrates her as rebel by stating that she “…fixed her makeup, and tried to smile” (Roald Dahl, Lamb to The Slaughter 2), this line foreshadows that how Mary Maloney’s rebellious nature is about to prove herself innocent. In addition, when the police arrives and investigate the case she proves herself innocent and tells the police “Personally, I couldn’t eat a thing, but it’d be a favor to me if you ate it [the leg of the lamb] up” (Roald Dahl, Lamb To The Slaughter 4), then the officers agree and without knowing anything that the lamb they are eating is actually the weapon Patrick was killed with. According to the analysis above, Mary Maloney doesn’t have any regret for her actions, instead “Mary Maloney began to laugh” (Roald Dahl, Lamb to The Slaughter 4). It is no wonder that the title of the story is “Lamb to The Slaughter”, because the lamb represents an innocent person which in this case is Patrick and to the slaughter foreshadows someone’s death in the story.

Although, Mary Maloney and king Creon have identical tragic flaws, the greatest downfall is distinctly demonstrated by king Creon in Antigone. The evidence that understandably establishes the fact that Mary Maloney does not have the greatest downfall is when she states “All right, she told herself. So I’ve killed him.” (Roald Dahl, Lamb to The Slaughter 2), according to this sentence, Mary Maloney doesn’t have any kind of regret for killing her husband, on the other hand Creon regrets his actions. The evidence for this is when Creon says “Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and my wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead.” (Sophocles, Antigone 11). King Creon, a man who regrets his actions and decisions he took in the state of anger by going against the law of god and leads himself to a catastrophe in which he loses his family and is now alone to suffer through the rest of his life.

In the final analysis, anger and rebellious are two traits that when combined can cause a big catastrophe in one’s life. Having a rebellious nature is not bad but it will eventually lead to a downfall if the decisions and actions are not taken thoughtfully. The stories “Lamb to The Slaughter” and “Antigone” both include a character who has not taken actions carefully enough, however the sign of remorse can only be seen in the character king Creon in Antigone. It is important to know that decisions made in a state of anger never have a desired outcome.