Cask Of Amontillado

1041 Words3 Pages

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”-Ghandi. Revenge is a part of human nature. When people are attacked, their instinct will be to fight back or flee; the fight or flight response. If they choose to fight, they will become the avenger and plot the downfall of their enemies. If they choose to flee, they will forgive. Forgiveness lets their injuries heal and all is forgotten. In Francis Bacon’s essay, About Revenge, he uses a harsh tone and alludes to ancient rulers and biblical figures to show his opinion on revenge. In Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Cask Of Amontillado, Poe uses an over exaggerated example of revenge in order to show his opinion on revenge. Through the use of tone, allusions, and characterization, the authors assert that revenge …show more content…

Francis Bacon refers to famous rulers and uses a harsh tone to persuade the reader that revenge is not justified. Bacon opens up his essay by stating. “Revenge is a sort of wild justice. The more people try to take revenge, the more the law should punish them. When a man commits a crime, he breaks the law. But when an injured person takes revenge, the person destroys law itself” (Bacon). Bacon uses the words wild justice to compare vigilantes to wild animals. He is also saying that when people bring chaos upon their enemy to get revenge, it destroys law. There would be no point of having law if everybody could do what they want. It is better to heal than cause anarchy. “King Solomon, I am sure, said it is glorious for a person to forget an injury” (Bacon). Bacon alludes to King Solomon in order to say that forgiveness is better than revenge. Forgiveness lets injuries heal while revenge leaves wounds open. “There was an Italian ruler, Cosimo de Medici, who said the following to his friends who might betray him or injure him.’We read,’ he said, ’that

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