Antigone Journal 4

And there we are. It is quite true that if it had not been for Antigone they would have been at peace. But that is over now. And they are all at peace. All those who were meant to die have died: those who believed one thing, those who believed the contrary thing, and even those who believed nothing at all, yet were caught up in the web without knowing why. All dead: stiff, useless, rotting. And those who have survived will now begin quietly to forget the dead: they won't remember who was who or which was which. It is all over. Antigone is calm tonight, and we shall never know the name of the fever that consumed her. She has played her part (53).

This passage, at the end of the play seems to tie up the cultural connection of the play to WWII. I find it interesting how this passage is at the end of the play, and the passage is an allusion to the end of WWII. The passage leaves me with the feeling of a reflection on WWII as well as a reflection on the play itself. This passage is not only an allusion, but it is also ambiguous in the sense that it can be tied to either the play or WWII. The reflection of death, "And they are all at peace. All those who were meant to die have died" leads the reader to assume that since they were "meant" to die, that these deaths were inevitable. This is interesting because in a tragedy death is always inevitable, and in a cultural sense, once the Nazi's took power, death and destruction was inevitable there too. When talking about those who were killed, "those who believed one thing, those who believed the contrary thing, and even those who believed nothing at all, yet were caught up in the web without knowing why" the reader is left to assume that senseless and unnecessary deaths were taking place. This was definitely the case during the holocaust and this can be related to the play because in reality, no one needed to die, everyone could have lived if Antigone did not so desperately desire death. The final part that leads me to believe that this is an allusion to the end of WWII is the line, "It is all over. Antigone is calm tonight, and we shall never know the name of the fever that consumed her." This line reminds me of some questions many people of the world had when WWII was finally over. "the name of the fever that consumed her" can be interpreted as the reason Antigone did what she did, but it can be also interpreted culturally as the reason the Nazi's committed mass genocide. This line shows the absolute lack of understanding that people had as to the reasons the Nazi's did the horrendous things they did. The use of this passage by Anouilh ties up the play nicely, but its ambiguity also sums up what the end of WWII was like as well.