Theme Of Revenge In 'The Gioconda Smile And The Catbird Seat'

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“Before you embark on a journey, of revenge, dig two graves,” was a quote written by Confucius in 551-479 B.C, which simply means that while you’re seeking revenge on your enemies, not only are you going to hurt them but you’ll hurt yourself too. Basically no good comes from seeking revenge. When wrong has been done to someone, they tend to seek revenge on that individual. Both short stories The Gioconda Smile by Aidous Huxley and The Catbird Seat by James Thurber portrayed the theme of revenge. Both authors use various literary elements to show how the topic of revenge is addressed in both novels. Seeking revenge can leave you with an uneasy conscience. You’ll feel as if you accomplished something good but deep down inside and as time goes on you’ll feel guilty. In the short story The Gioconda Smile Miss. Spence who was a very jealous and spiteful woman sought revenge on Mr. Hutton who was a married man who cheated on his wife (Emily Hutton) with not only Miss. Spence, but also with a third person named Dorris. All of these women loved Mr. Hutton but Janet wanted him all to herself. Janet just wanted him to love and care for her as much as she loved and cared for him. She had secret affairs with Mr. Hutton to fill the empty void of loneliness she felt due to the fact that she wasn’t married. Mr. Hutton was a very narcissistic individual …show more content…

Spence was a jealous person. Even though Miss. Spence and Erwin Martin both expressed their act of revenge in different ways the concept of revenge is still the same. They tried to get back at someone that they felt had done them wrong some type of way. “It was just a week to the day since Mr. Martin had decided to rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows. The term "rub out" pleased him because it suggested nothing more than the correction of an error--in this case an error of Mr.

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