“If you live in a society where the rule of law is weak, revenge provides a way to keep order. But revenge comes at a price. Instead of helping you move on with your life, it can leave you dwelling on the situation and remaining unhappy, psychologists' research finds. Considering revenge is a very human response to feeling slighted…,” (Price). Revenge is a natural human response that we think will help us; however, many times it ends up hurting us. Based on my findings, revenge is viewed as acceptable, but experts say it can also be detrimental to those seeking retribution.
All of the critic reviews commended director Martin Scorsese for his excellent movie Cape Fear. Revenge was mentioned in the reviews, but never expounded upon the subject in terms of whether it was acceptable or not. An assumption can be made that since the movie was praised, and no comment was given to the subject of revenge, it is an acceptable part of human nature. If it was not viewed as acceptable, then the movie would not have been so highly praised, and surely some comment would have been made about it. Desson Howe of the Washington Post says the movie is a basic revenge story, but goes no further to explain whether revenge is right or wrong. This critic does mention, however, that Cape Fear is a morality play. “The movie's awash with themes: Truth and deceit, good and evil, salvation and damnation, treachery and fidelity, freedom and imprisonment. There are moral twists everywhere,” (Howe). This may mean that the revengeful plot has a moral discrepancy. But was the revenge of Mr. Cady on the right side or the wrong side? Cady probably feels justified in getting back at his defending lawyer Bowden. “Bowden did not defend Cady to the best of his ability....
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...what he did and feeling unhappy.
Works Cited
"Cape Fear." TV Guide. TV Guide, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. cape-fear/review/128228>. Dubus, Andre. "Killings." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. By Michael
Meyer. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997. 61-73. Print.
Gowers, Duncan. "Not Scorcese's Best, but Pretty Good!" IMDb. IMDb.com, 12 Sept. 2000. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. .
Howe, Desson. "Cape Fear." Washingtonpost.com. Washington Post, 15 Nov. 1991. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. .
Price, Michael. "Revenge and the People Who Seek It." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. .
Revenge is a fairly strong emotion; it’s wanting to retaliate towards those who wronged you. Revenge is such an uncontrollable form of retaliation that it can result in a destructive outcome or be carried out successfully. Although the results may vary, revenge sums up to one thing which is pain of some sort, affecting both parties or just one. Throughout history, we see many tales of revenge and redemption. Often revenge does leave the one carrying it out feeling victorious, but this can suddenly change as the process of karma generally begins in some tales.
Evil exists naturally in the world, and there are many acts that are considered evil. As a result, evil is often a theme in literature. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare, and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe each rely heavily on evil to portray a message. Out of all of the evil acts that exist, exacting revenge is the evilest act that a person can make, for a person’s rash decision to exact revenge will ruin their sense of morality. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes in “Hamlet” each commit terrible acts of revenge, as does Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
While revenge may feel sweet at times, in most cases it is destructive to yourself and those around you. The article “Revenge:Will You Feel Better?” makes one contemplate this, and draws the question “is revenge really worth it?” Well, in the article, Karyn Hall suggests that “Revenge can be a strong urge, but you may not feel better if you act on it.” In fact, in a study performed by Kevin Carlsmith showed that “...the students that got revenge reported feeling worse than those who didn't…” With this, one may see that revenge is pointless, and in most cases leaves you feeling worse than the people you performed it
Many people percieve revenge to be something that falls under justice, as they are driven by emotions, while others consider getting the police involved as serving justice. Moreover, some people find revenge to be pleasing and satisfying, but to argue the point that just because something is more satisfying does not mean it is
For the meek, vengeance pleasures the soul; however, it is only temporal. Like an addictive drug, revenge soothes anger and tension by sedating the mind with ephemeral comfort. Despite the initial relief, pain ensues and conditions seem worse than before. Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the non-violence movement in India, stated once that “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” There is no such thing as a sweet revenge.
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym?).
Revenge is an emotion that corrupts the innermost parts of the soul. It is not an emotion that comes and goes, but is a sentiment that is unwavering and perpetual until successfully carried out. Revenge is the hunger that drives someone to inconceivable measures in order to inflict similar pain or suffering to a person who is the center of previous internal sufferings. Although revenge is focused on the original perpetrator, it affects the revenge seeker as well as the victim. The one who seeks revenge is further hurt by the consequences involved with their revenge. Even though revenge may seem to be rewarding, those seeking revenge inadvertently suffer due to their obsession that causes present separation, their insecurity
Retribution is the philosophy best explained by the famous saying, “an eye for an eye”. Those that believe in this form of justice hold a strict and harsh view on punishments for crime. The proponents of retribution believe that severe penalties act as deterrence to future crime, however, studies
Norms of Revenge. 4. Blackwell Publisher, 1990. 862. eBook. . Bar-elli, G. and Heyd, D. (1986), Can revenge be just or otherwise justified?.
People can quench their thirst for revenge by not wanting to cause the pain on others caused to them. Also, revenge can be overcome by, as Mark Mathabane writes, “It [hatred] can be vanquished only by humanity”. Hatred will only cause more hatred, creating increasingly more and more pain and instability for everybody. The only way this cycle can be broken is through peace and forgiveness.
The purpose of revenge is to hurt someone because of how they hurt you or someone else. Someone will find the smallest things to get revenge on because of the hate in their heart, and always wants to hurt to someone. Revenge is played a major role in the play Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare. I never heard the urge to get revenge on someone, because karma will get him or her eventually.
Revenge is the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Revenge is not only used as a justification for an action, but it also motivates people to show who they really are. In the novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens hides the true personality of Orlick until revenge invigorates him to commit ruthless actions and show his jealous and deleterious personality.
Revenge is such an enormous part of a being human. It is something that no matter how much you try to avoid part of you will persistently lust for it. When you are hurt in any way your natural instinct will always tell you to make the one who hurt you feel just as bad if not worse as how you felt. It is such a natural and powerful feeling, that when revenge is incorporated into a story it makes it so much stronger. Revenge will make you see so many more sides of characters and make them seem much more complex. Revenge can give fictional characters a more human quality. That is why so many writers use it as their theme.
Taking revenge is a bitter sweet thing. I have always thought that people should always get what they desire, whether it be a grade, a smile and hug or in some cases, revenge. When I was in high school there seemed to be someone always trying to get me in trouble, they would say things that wouldn’t be true or do things to make me look bad. The fact that I never seemed to do anything to them would make me mad and wonder what I could do to get them back. Revenge would usually come in some sort of verbal put down or I would try to physically hurt them. It always seemed when I would get the revenge right away I would feel really good but as I thought about what I did, and what they did to me I would always feel guilty or wish I would have never done anything to them in return.
People can be motivated to take revenge on others for various reasons. While these reasons may be considered as very serious or rather trivial, they are all motives for revenge. Revenge occurs when a person has been offended or angered by an individual and in result they have the desire to pay them back. People’s opinions on revenge differ from each other, some may believe it is justified and some don’t. Mahatma Ghandi believed that revenge is not the answer and he stated that “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. This quote portrays the opinion that if everyone gets even then there will be no one else; if we all take an eye for an eye everyone would be blind. Revenge can be learnt through real life experiences as well as fiction and can be shown as justice or unacceptable. It becomes difficult to determine when revenge can be justified but is revenge always worth it?