Yes and No
During Antigone and Creon's discussion, the concept of yes and no are brought up several times. Antigone repeatedly says no to Creon's pleas to just go back to her room. She blames him for saying yes to the duty of becoming King. According to Creon though, saying no is the easy route. "To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows" (37). What he means it that 'yes' involves responsibility and action, while 'no' is denying the path of nature. "Can you imagine a world in which trees say no to the sap?" (37) Animals are simple and are motivated by survival instincts: yes I am hungry, yes I am tired, yes I am thirty, yes I need to reproduce. On the other hand, humans are complicated because they have emotions. If Antigone was an animal, she would say yes to Creon because it would deter away from death, a survival instinct. That is Creon's argument. Antigone accuses Creon of taking a job he does not want. "I don't have to listen to you if I don't want to. You've said your yes" (35). Creon gave up life for a duty. Antigone is giving up her life for moral righteousness. One could argue for either character because a tragedy shows the inevitable deaths. It is destiny not evil or good that the two disagree.
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