11/4/19 Alan Peysakhov Peroid 8

Alan Peysakhov                 

11/6/19

Modern Mythology 2020

We began today’s class by discussing how how the suicide of Antigone relates to other ways suicide was viewed in time. Antigone in short is a sister of a man that was not allowed to be buried after he died. She decided to give him a proper burial  even though she knew that she would die if she did. This was ultimately a suicide.

I believe that this relates to certain suicides of previous generations where many were looked at as honorable. One example of this is the Japanese soldiers, the kamikaze. These soldiers were committing suicide but it was seen by the Japanese as an honorable act as it was done for their country and their side of the war. Other forms of suicide that this can relate too are the ones that are committed because of a persons unhappiness with the way the world is and how it may have treated them. An example would be a man or women committing suicide due to being unhappy with the way their lives are going financially or maybe even  due to the insecurities that the world around them created. This second example really views how our outlook of suicide changed overtime. What once was seen as honorable during a time of war or other such efforts, now is seen by some as an escape from the world around them. When I answered this question in our classroom discussion today I said that suicide has lost much of its honorable conatation due to the way it is now being committed. People are now unfortunately doing it to find their way out of the world. It is seen by many as selfish because they aren’t thinking about the effects it would have on their friends and families. We will never truly understand however why people commit these acts now and will never understand how emotionally destroyed they must be feeling.

The next question that was asked in class was what is considered just and unjust and how can we possibly determine it?

Justice and the right thing to do is created by the world around you and really has a lot to do with nature in nurture. We oblivious know that terrorism is an awful and horrible thing, but a lot of these terrorists heads are filled with lies that state they will go to heaven if they commit these acts. They see these awful acts as just because they were nurtured into thinking so. People aren’t inherently unjust or evil. No one is born a monster. These things are created and instilled inside of you by the outside world.

Reflection:

After our discussion about the story of Antigone, I believe I now understand some other perspectives on why people come to the the decision of suicide. At first I believed that suicide was more of an escape for the world, and while still a very sad act, I now see how it may be viewed by some as honorable. Antigone commuted suicide for her brother. This was an honorable act as she put a proper burial for her brother before herself. I will be able to use this outside of the classroom to understand and attempt to learn more about people that do this now. Often when I heard of someone committing suicide I really brushed it off because I believe they were all done for the same reason. I now understand more about this and believe I should look into individual situations as opposed to coming to direct conclusions right away.