Karyn Hall's Revenge: Will You Feel Better?

Revenge means inflicting harm on the offender out of anger because of what he or she did. Retribution is the rational theory supported the offender deserves punishment appropriate to the level of his crime. Punishment is not based on hatred for the criminal. When a society fails to punish criminals in a way thought to be proportionate to the severeness of the crime. The danger arises that the public would take the law into its own hands, resulting in vigilante justice, lynch mobs, and private acts of retribution. The outcome is likely to be an anarchist State sure injustice "declared by Louis p. Pojman Professor Emeritus of philosophy at West Point Military Academy.

The article “Revenge: will you feel better,” author Karyn Hall (2013) claims that while the temptation of revenge may be convincing, acting upon these urges is not always worth the consequences after. Hall contemplates the idea of revenge being “self destructive” and being harmful to both those giving and receiving revenge. Furthermore the article states People who have been hurt seem to believe that if the other party suffers, then they will feel better and that their emotional pain will lessen. This idea is later touch on towards the end of the article when author explains the idea of the “understanding hypothesis”, which is when the offender knows the connection between the original insult and the retaliation. In contrast, the author also

In his New Yorker article “Vengeance Is Ours,” Jared Diamond makes the claim that revenge is a universal feeling and that state governments alienate us from satisfactory feelings derived from revenge. Through two narratives Diamond exhibits the satisfaction derived from revenge, as well as the dismay when revenge is not achieved. He first examines the story of Daniel Wemp who, after the murder of his uncle at the hands of a man named Isum, goes on a quest to avenge him and feels the euphoria of revenge. It took Daniel three years, twenty nine other murders, and three hundred pig sacrifices to achieve this, but when he finally heard that Isum was dead he felt “as if I am developing wings” and as if he was “about to fly off”(7). To do contrast

Is the desire for revenge a basic component of human nature? The highly awarded movie The Revenant is an epic story of Hugh Glass’s mission to seek revenge on those who had wronged him. The movie teaches many important life lessons, but they differ significantly in comparison to the book it's based on. Not only does the story teach important lessons, it is a notable legend in American folklore. The motion picture rendition of Michael Punke’s book The Revenant changes the meaning of the book because despite the similarities in the characters and the initial storyline the ending scene redefines the book.

According to Mahatma Ghandi, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind”. Revenge is a double-edge sword as it one is placed in a lose-lose situation. In Ed Vega’s short story “Spanish Roulette”, the central character poet Sixto struggles with enacting revenge against his sister’s rapist. In Francis Bacon’s essay, “On Revenge”, he discusses how taking justice into an individual’s hand shouldn’t be tolerated as it goes against the confides of the law of the land. Even though both Vega and Bacon implore the topic of vengeance, and how its integration has played a role in our society, the two offer contrasting views as to the moral ambiguity of revenge, its theoretical versus practical use, and the effectiveness it instills

Human nature: a collection of thoughts, behaviors, ideals and morals, encompassing how humans act and respond to certain situations. It includes positive reactions, such as happiness, creativity, love, and kindness, as well as negative ones, such as hatred, jealousy, and anger. Yet, one aspect of human nature still remains prevalent as one of the most influential concepts in choosing how to behave: revenge. Revenge, a powerful concept and idea, can turn the minds of even the purest, twisting them to form negative preconceptions and cause individuals to perform heinous acts. Working in coalition with other negative aspects such as anger and hatred, revenge can be the root cause of many negative actions or thoughts individual tend to harbor that cannot be explained. Nevertheless, the concept of revenge still remains a mystery to many, including those within the academic setting. Thus, many argue, in an academic setting, the varying sides of the concept, trying to find where the idea itself stems from, how it plays into human nature, and how the thought works in conjunction with other thoughts and ideals. Two such pieces, “Of Revenge” by Francis Bacon and “He Becomes Deeply and Famously Drunk” by Brady Udall, explore and examine the aspects of revenge and how it relates to human nature, but Bacon’s piece helps the reader develop a further understanding of Udall’s piece. While Bacon tries to dissect the concept of revenge itself and its role in human nature, Udall displays the

(72-73). By exacting revenge every time someone wrongs you, you create an endless cycle of death and/or malice between you and others. Revenge is a disease that can be cured. Once someone exacts revenge, the person they harmed will be infected by it and attempt to get back at the corruptor. In my experience, revenge will only result in burned bridges.

Sandra Cisneros once said, “Revenge only engenders violence, not clarity and true peace.” In the case of the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, this quote could not be more relevant. The quote directly applies to the main character, Hamlet, who develops an elaborate revenge plot against his uncle. One part of this plan was feigning his own madness. However, as time progressed, this feigned madness eventually became actual madness, and ended up harming Hamlet.

People will sometimes think which would be the most effective method to use to right wrongs redemption or revenge? When righting a wrong, redemption is a more effective method than revenge. Redemption will usually result in less violence and there will be less problems to deal with. Revenge on the other hand, will usually result in more violence and it occasionally bites back on whoever was getting revenge on someone else or a group of people for some specific reason and sometimes things will tend to not go as planned.

“Do not seek revenge and call it justice.” - Cassandra Clare. Revenge is primarily emotional, but justice primarily involves the capacity to reason. A little girl goes out to seek revenge, but a real woman moves on and let’s karma do the rest. In the Historical Fiction story “Bargain” by A.B

Physician and assistant vice president for the student health and counseling services at the University of Chicago, Alex Lickerman in his article, “What Justice is: Is Our Current Concept Only a Rationalization,” argues that “our concept of justice is nothing more than a way to legitimize our desire for revenge.” He develops his claim by first explaining a study from Yale professor Paul Bloom who showed through experimentation that humans have an innate sense of right and wrong, then he supports his argument by bringing into question if Bin Laden saw error in his ways and dedicated his life to change, would punishing him be the right thing to do, he goes on to further explain that some people may still want to punish him due to their innate

Our desire for retribution dates back as early as the 18th Century BC. We feel the need to see the wrongdoer have consequences for their actions. To be punished and feel the pain that their victim felt so they can also suffer. Some people love that idea that the person who commited a crime suffers by whatever means necessary. Knowing

As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The old law of ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind.” By this, King is implying that revenge does not solve any issues, but instead affects multiple people who are involved in a conflict. Revenge is defined as the act of harming someone for any aggression towards another. “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,” written by William Shakespeare, gives an excellent example that the thirst for vengeance can ruin everyone who is connected. Some examples of the play are Romeo and Tybalt, whose actions caused them to meet an unfaithful end. Their actions, which were guided by hatred, not only affected them, but both of their families. Romeo and Tybalt’s actions show that revenge itself can lead to great losses,

Revenge is the act of doing something to hurt someone because that person did something that hurt them. People have been getting revenge on others for thousands of years. People usually get revenge to regain power because when someone wrongs them they feel like power has been taken from them. Sometimes people like to go outside of the law to get revenge. This is because they feel like the law is not enough to give the person who wronged them the right amount of punishment for what they have done. “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, and “Cask of the Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe all show the things they or their characters would do to get revenge on the person that wronged them and the different ways they did it.

With my newfound sense of worth - the desire to exact some kind of revenge for being so subjugated was inexplicably tempting. Though some say that by forgiving we become virtuous, was it not Shakespeare himself who said, “If you wrong us, shall we not