character discription

The Gaurd:

He is motivated by two things: greed and his fear of death. The gaurd who speaks to Creon first is portrayed as a cowerdly boy who only came because he lost a coin toss. "We flipped a coin and i came right over" (22). The fact that the three garuds flipped a coin to decide who would tell Creon the bad news indicates that they are all scared he will kill them for their insubordination and that they are scared of death. Later we see the gaurd's selfish side when he pleads to Creon that he would not be punished if the two other gaurds spoke about the body being buried. He didn't seem to care about whether or not the other gaurds were punished as long as he would be spared from the punishment.

The motivation of the gaurd serves in characterizing him in the story. It contrasts his selfish views with those of Antigone's to add depth to the story.