There are seemingly countless countless between Home Fire and "Antigone," but I am going to focus on the similarities between King Creon and Karamat Lone. Starting with the obvious, both of these characters are the central authority in their respective texts. Furthermore, both seem to have similar ideologies when it comes to loyalty to the state. In his first address to the chorus, Creon declares, "And if a man places anything above his city in friendship, that man I think is worthy of disdain" (Sophocles 185-186). In the case of Polyneices, Creon sees this man only as an enemy of the state, and therefore anyone who shows honor or respect toward this traitor is betraying his country. When Antigone goes to bury her brother, Creon fails to see this as a sister loving her brother, but as a citizen sympathizing with an enemy and defying an order. Similarly, Karamat Lone views Parvaiz as a terrorist and enemy of Britain, in turn seeing Aneeka's desire to bury her brother as an act against the state. Both also display a stubbornness and refusal to listen when others question their policies. After Haemon tells his father that the city feels Antigone committed no crime, Creon counters, "Is a city then to dictate what my orders should be?" (Sophocles 733). Not only does Creon refuse to listen to his son, he also doesn't respect the will of the people, which should be the purpose of government. Lone faces similar opposition in Home Fire, from Eammon in his video. The chorus/city equivalent is less obvious, but I would contend that the news and media play the same role in Shamsie's novel. Despite the protests of those around them, both political figures are unwilling to change their mind regarding the burial of the brothers in each story. There are other parallels, but Shamsie clearly based Karamat Lone off of King Creon in "Antigone."
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Antigone and Home Fire
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Hi Calvin, it was interesting to read about your comparison to Creon and Karamat in the two texts. For my blog post I talked about Antigone and Aneeka, so I found it fascinating to see another viewpoint on the subject. I found your blog interesting discussing the foundations Antigone placed on the text Home Fire, especially with your interpretation of the two characters and the chorus.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you would agree, but I feel like Karamat and Creon are the most interesting of the characters and I consider them to be the protagonists rather than Antigone and Aneeka
ReplyDeleteAh, a very interesting claim! This would make for a great debate topic.
DeleteI agree with all of your comparisons between Creon and Karamat. Both characters had large egos which made them both stubborn. They both also took politics to extreme levels and really valued loyalty to the state as you said.
ReplyDeleteYou pointed out some great parallels between the two. After reading Antigone, I almost wish Home Fire included Karamat's reaction to Eamonn's death so that the reactions of Creon and Karamat could be compared. Personally I think they would be pretty similar, but who knows what Shamsie had in mind.
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