Taking Injustices Into One's Own Hands in Taken,

Most people do not know the limits of their actions, until they are faced with an injustice. Actions taken by one person may well be different from those of another. Human reactions are as unique as individuals themselves. Why do some people take matters of revenge or injustice into their own hands while others are content to let justice take its course? An individual’s morals, background, the reward at stake, and how personal the situation may be, all contribute to how far a person is willing to go to right a wrong. Where is the line drawn? Are there limits that a person would self-impose to right a wrong?

A person’s background and financial resources can have a huge impact on their actions. The average man is probably not as capable as a CIA agent simply because he doesn’t have the training or experience as an agent. He may not have had a career to prepare him for what is required to take matters into his own hands. In the movie Taken, “a retired CIA agent (Bryan Mills) had a daughter that was kidnapped by a crime-ring leading him to torture and/or kill anyone who had information on his daughter’s whereabouts” (Taken Pierre Morel). Mills had training and experience in extreme investigation tactics in order to get what he wanted. This allowed him to personally seek justice instead of relying on law enforcement. In Edward Dolnick’s book, the Rescue Artist, Scotland Yard’s Charley Hill was assigned to recover the painting, The Scream, that had been stolen from a Norwegian museum. From an early age, Hill spent his life preparing himself for a career in law enforcement. He fought in the Vietnam War and chose to become a paratrooper, wanting to get in the head of risk takers. The criminals he would one day hunt and capture were r...

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...ay act on impulse, wanting to eliminate anything or anyone that stands in the way of their goal. “The Rutgers’ basketball coach, Mike Rice was caught on video punching his players and throwing balls, at point blank range, at his players. He also called them inappropriate names if they made the slightest mistake during practice” (Mike Rice’s Ire pg. 1). Other times, as in the movie Taken, “Mills knew the difference between right and wrong but would let nothing stand in his way to protect a loved one” (Taken Pierre Morel).

Background, morals, reward, and how personal the wrong is all influence to what lengths a person will go to right a wrong. Whether a person would allow law enforcement to handle a situation or take matters into their own hands depends on the person. Many factors are at play when a person faces a life-changing situation created by a wrongful act.