Justice in Home Fire and Antigone

 A primary theme in Antigone and Home Fire is justice. Whether justice is being acted upon is debatable in both stories. In Home Fire, we see justice in the form of Parvaiz. Parvaiz, after joining ISIS, regrets his decision and attempts to escape by turning himself in. Parvaiz, the wrong-doer, pays the ultimate price, death. The wrong-doer in Antigone, Creon, does not. Instead, he has everything taken from him. His wife and son kill themselves, causing him to realize his mistakes. We do not see this parallel in Home Fire, because Parvaiz never got the chance to share his thoughts after his death, obviously. An important difference in Home Fire and Antigone is the reason for their respective mistakes. In Home Fire, Parvaiz was convinced he would be happier in ISIS. He was, to a certain extent, brainwashed. Creon, however, made his choices out of his own egotistical brain. He was not brainwashed, and even when someone told him what he was doing was wrong, it took two deaths to realize he made a mistake. Now, the larger question is, was justice really served in both of the works? Some view death as an escape from punishment, so in this sense Parvaiz escaped justice (justice meaning jail time for his mistakes). Creon now has to live his whole life without his wife or son. That seems to me to be the Sophoclean form of justice. I think the similarity is the fact that justice leaves questions rather than answers. We do not have a definite conclusion as to who paid the price and who served their time. Everything in both of these stories is relative to the reader/viewer’s perception.

Comments

  1. Avery PiersonOctober 17, 2021 at 10:18 PM

    I had not thought of the parallel between Creon and Parvaiz. Before I read your post, I only ever really compared him to Polynices, so I appreciate how you offered this new perspective!

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  2. KrisOctober 18, 2021 at 2:38 AM

    Parvaiz may have escaped punishment, but punishment is simply a means to dole out justice by causing equal grievance. Death, being an ultimate punishment of sorts, served not only to administer justice to Parvaiz, but do so to arguably a greater extent than his actions warranted.

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  3. Jenna ChinnOctober 18, 2021 at 5:26 PM

    It's interesting to compare Parvaiz and Creon as the two main wrong-doers. I think that it's arguable that Polynieces and Karamat were also morally wrong, but in these stories it does seem like Parvaiz and Creon received the worst punishment.

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  4. Bianca DuarteOctober 19, 2021 at 12:44 PM

    I like your perspective on your comparison between Creon and Parvaiz. I did not see that connection before, and this blog post greatly helped me expand my understanding of both characters in Antigone.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Isabella FernandezOctober 21, 2021 at 9:46 PM

    I never would have thought that there was a connection between Parvaiz and Creon. I do think that justice is based on perspective. While one may believe Parvaiz escaped justice through death, others may believe that he experienced justice because he was killed. There is no right or wrong outlook on justice and I think that is what makes these pieces of writing so intriguing.

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  6. Michelle BOctober 24, 2021 at 7:38 PM

    This is a really interesting comparison that cuts across the obvious pairings!

    ReplyDelete

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