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The Greek play Antigone takes place in the Greek city of Thebes following a civil war that has threatened the stability of the kingdom. The reborn country is ruled by a new King by the name of Creon, who is the new no nonsense ruler of the land of Thebes and the inhabitants of the kingdom also include his son and wife as well as his 2 nieces. The culture of the people seems to be undefined as they have just undergone a gruesome war which they are still attempting to heal from, this proves to be a challenge as the story progresses.

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The novel Home Fire takes place throughout the 2000’s and early 2010’s in a multitude of physical locations from England to the US to Turkey and even all the way east to Pakistan. The novel has a tremendous focus on terrorism specifically terrorism that has stemmed from radical Islamic views. In the novel there is those who embody Islamic culture and values as well as those who don’t or just don’t care for the more conservative interpretations of the religion. The main society that is focused on is a “western” society who is not too familiar, or it appears, comfortable with the Islamic culture. This group of people are also very inclined to nationalist views and use politics to make sure they feel safe in their country, as previously stated Islam is not fully accepted due to its relationship to radicalization and in turn terrorism, both home and abroad.

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The social identity of Creon is one that is very dense and the platform for how we look at him in and throughout the play. The first thing that stands out when it comes to his identity is that he is the king of Thebes and of which he is very proud to represent and care for “This is my command, and you can see the wisdom behind it. As long as I am King, no traitor is going to be honored with the loyal man.” (Sophocles, lines 174-175). This means that Creon is in a class above the rest as he rules over the lands, Creon is also a married man and uncle who is very cognizant of the importance of maintaining a strong family. This has more than certainly been challenged as his family had been and proves to be split by the results of a civil war between his 2 nephews “Unfortunately, as you know, his two sons, the princes Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in battle, and I, as the next in blood, have succeeded to the full power of the throne.” (Sophocles, lines 144-146). All around we can see that Creon is family man that cares deeply for his loved ones; however, we can also see that the values being king and his country slightly more.

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The social identity of Aneeka is one that could be interpreted as delicate  throughout the story as she is a young Muslim woman in the U.K. who can be outspoken at times with her opinions, this is even noted by her sister “not quite nineteen, with her law student brain, who knew everything about her rights and nothing about the fragility of her place in the world.” (Shamsie,12). Aneeka like Creon places a high value on family loyalty, especially towards her twin brother Parvaiz whom she loves dearly and feels deeply connected to “Aneeka’s had learned to beat in the company of her twin brother, in the world of their mother’s womb.” (Shamsie, 40). We can see from the perspective of Aneeka’s sister, Isma, that their family comes from a middle-class background that has made their Fianacial situation precarious at times ““My siblings and I were orphaned just after I finished uni. They were twelve years old twins. I took the first job I could find. Now they’ve grown up; I can go back to my life.” (Shamsie, 11). The family status of Aneeka is also unique as we find out both her brother and father were associated with Islamic radical terrorism and her mother had passed from illness; she is close to her sister but is mostly a freethinker who relies on herself rather than others.

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Considering that Creon is the King of Thebes it is safe to assume that he is a very high-ranking member of society, if not the “top dog”, as he not only is the ruler of the people, but he also makes sure to inform all that he rules with the best interest of the kingdom in mind “and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare, ––I have no use for him, either. I call God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to speak out plainly; and I need hardly remind you that I would never have any dealings with an enemy of the people.” (Sophocles, lines 152-157). He also has some more perceived social ranking given that he is man which in the context of this culture seems to have a lot to do with one's power to participate in their respective society, this paired with period the play takes place in would suggest that males outrank females in society.

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The social location of Aneeka is one that is not a great reflection of the actions she takes throughout the book as she portrayed a powerful and fiercely independent, women in many ways in society are held back this is especially seen in Muslim culture “Tell her it is written in the Quran, ‘Men are in charge of women because Allah has made one of them to excel the other.’ (Shamsie,102). While this concept doesn’t apply very much to her while she is in the U.K., she is lower in status for another reason, she is a Muslim. There appears to be a mixed bag of emotions displayed in the book when discussing Muslims in the U.K. from the idea that they are problematic and dangerous to the idea that most closely relates to Aneeka which is that of Muslim woman being damsels in distress. This makes Aneeka to be perceived as weaker and in need of saving by a non-Muslim or “British” Muslim to save her from the perceived harshness of the religion ““Muslim women, particularly the beautiful ones, need to be saved from Muslim men.” (Shamsie, 103)

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After a civil war leads to the death of the heirs to the Kingdom of Thebes the city is taken over by the new King, and uncle of the heirs, Creon, who demands that one of the brothers mustn't be buried as he betrayed the Kingdom. This order is ignored by Antigone the niece of Creon and sister to the two slain brothers who feels they both deserve a proper burial; this proves to be a betrayal of her own towards the kingdom leading to a death sentence. This story makes the reader consider the thin line that is toed between being a moral person and a good citizen through the lenses of our two main characters and proves to be a great tragedy for all of those involved.

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This novel covers the lives of 5 different people in the U.K. who identify themselves in one or another as Muslims and how they respond to the death of one of the five, Parviaz, who is slain after fleeing from his affiliation with ISIS. The conflict of the story revolves around the denial of the British government to allow him to be buried on their soil and this is protested by his twin sister Aneeka. The main opponent to this is Karamat Lone, the Home Secretary of the U.K., fellow Muslim, and family friend of Aneeka. This is done in order to show that Karamat values his country and its laws over his Muslim identity, this story becomes more tragic as his son falls in love with Aneeka and defends her with all his heart. This is a modern take on the story of Antigone, and it highlights the struggles of being a Muslim woman in society, the different ways people deal with tragedies, and to what limits people will go for those that they care for.

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In the case of Creon we know purely off his role as the King of Thebes that he is in a position of power over his subjects how he displays this throughout the text shows us that he craves to maintain and assert this power onto others. This sense of maintaining law and power in the kingdom leads to Creon feeling betrayed by his own family and makes him act in a way that is paranoid towards even his closest of people “Snake in my ordered house, sucking my blood Stealthily––and all the time I never knew That these two sisters were aiming at my throne!” (Sophocles, lines 425-427). This outright feeling to protect the law by Creon leads him to use his power to kill his opponents and make sure that no one else can betray him or the kingdom “My voice is the one voice giving orders in this City! HAIMON: It is no City if it takes orders from one voice.  The State is the King!” (Sophocles, lines 596-598)”. The intersecting identities of Aneeka cause a great bit of struggle for her throughout the novel as not only is she a woman in Islam, but she is a Muslim in the U.K. which is not 100% open to the religion. We can see Aneeka struggle with this identity battle as she is a very independent and outspoken woman who wants to honor her deceased brother, but is often met with disdain or pity thrown on her “Tell her it is written in the Quran, ‘Men are in charge of women because Allah has made one of them to excel the other.’ And by Allah’s law, you, not your women, dispose of your property.” (Shamsie, 102). A result of this perceived powerlessness that is placed on Aneeka because of who she is, she is often seen taking extreme actions to make her points clear and is seen as wild by her peers. only to be met by the blank stare and silence of a girl whom Karamat was beginning to suspect of being as unhinged as she was manipulative.” (Shamsie,172) . For instance, Aneeka protests her brother’s denial of reentry back into the U.K. after his death by camping in a park in Pakistan with body of her brother which causes great controversy around the world and ultimately leads to violence being directed to her. The unique identity she forms leads to very powerful displays of action as her words alone are not valued because of her gender and religion alone.

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In completing this analysis I became fascinated by trying to understand these characters on a personal level and trying to understand how their identities relate to their behaviors. The most interesting thing I found was that I couldn’t fully understand the life of Aneeka, for me I assumed she would view herself at a disadvantage because to me it is easy to assume that she may be given her gender, location, and religion. I found this was not the case, instead I found that my preconceptions of society formed the basis of these thoughts and made it hard at times for me not to look at Aneeka as needing help, but as someone who was fighting for something important to her. It's important to recognize this when studying a person and trying to understand them as we must always be cognizant that we as humans are biased in some shape or form, and by realizing this we can open up and truly try to learn/ accept someone.

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1. Shamsie, Kamila. Homefire. Riverhead Books, 2017.

2. Sophocles, and Thor Lange. Antigone. 1941.