The Sentry

The Sentry is the oddest character, but his speech isn't just nonsense. The sentry’s character feeds into how you view Creon as ruler. When the Sentry first enters, I thought that it was odd that he would replay his train of thought out loud to the king, but as I kept reading, I realized that it was out of fear. He didn't want the king to think that he did it or had any part of it. The sentry was the ideal situation of “Don’t shoot the messenger.” The sentry was just nervous. His many lines all similar to line 265 “You know how all disasters make a man hesitate to be their messenger” all play in to his nervousness. And it makes Creon look heartless in the reader’s eyes. Here’s King Creon, about to crucify a man for a crime he did not commit. What seems like nonsense questions, at line 350, is indeed a set-up, to reveal that Creon is not a just ruler. Again the Sentry is pleading that he did not commit the deed, he just has to deliver the news, yet he has to pay the price if the criminal isn't found. The scene appeals to your inner lawyer, who wants justice for the sentry against Creon. Creon doesn't even bother to try to understand what the Sentry is saying, furthering my thought that the sentry’s lines serve the purpose of further understanding Creon’s character. When we see the sentry again, around line 430, he is bringing Antigone to the king, yet every statement he makes, he pleads for his life. He is again scared, that somehow Creon will blame him. The sentry being dismissed by Creon allows us to see him as a man who keeps his word, which makes us wonder will he really go through with killing Antigone. The Sentry’s lines help in how I see Creon as a king.