 Because Crito cannot answer, Socrates personifies the laws and imagines their response, on behalf of his obligation to them. (Here as elsewhere, with the exception of the Apology, Socrates avoids giving an extensive speech in his own persona.) The argument the laws give is elaborate, and appeals mainly to two points: an agreement they allege Socrates made to obey them by choosing to live in Athens, and the benefits they claim Socrates has received from them, which place Socrates under a stronger obligation to the laws than he has to his parents. Neither Crito nor Socrates can reply to the arguments given by the laws, and conclusion of the laws is allowed to stand.