According to
the Oxford Dictionary (2015) revenge is
“the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or
wrong suffered at their hands.” Revenge or vengeance can be dangerous in
several situations, from a simple slap in the face to massive destruction. Revenge
is an extensive topic, to explain it is necessary to describe the level of
damage it can cause as result of the harmful behavior of someoneelse’s actions.
To that end, the following terms would be mentioned: schadenfreude, karma,
vigilant justice and war.
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There is
always the case that somebody may suffer from a nasty behavior. For example,
inside a romantic relationship when one of the couple cheats on the other and
after the break up, the cheater receives the same outcome with the new partner. The former partner,
deep in side, would feel happy. That feeling is called in german schadenfreude and the fact that the
cheater pays for his o her action is called karma.
Some may say it was revenge, others would agree it is not, due to the fact
that revenge involves a counterattack from the victim.
It is a normal
and healthy behavior to wish someone pay the damage provocked to others, and as
it happens the injured may feel comforted. It is curious that schadenfreude is difficult to translate
literally in other languages, probably because if someone feels pleased for
others’ misfortunes, one might be diagnossed with a sociopath conduct. Karma is a more popular term, though.
Karma comes from the Hinduism doctrine and is the unique
contribution of India to the world. Usually mistaken with divine justice, which
correct term is dharma, is not only a
methaphysical law but also a substance that attaches to any action performed by
anyone, no matter if it is good or bad, there will be an outcome according to
the nature of it. Is an eternal law responsible of suffering, births and
deaths; there is no way to avoid it, only to minimize the harm of it as long as
the acts are mainly good.
Supposedly
every act receives a consequence equivalent to its nature, what happens when
this consequence takes years? That is why a Constitution, Civil Rights and a
Number of Laws exists inside the Jurisdiction of any country around the globe.
Sometimes the damage is not necessarily the result of an illegal behavior, by
the contrary, it is something that can be solved by verbal arrangements between
the perpetuador and the victim. But when the harm is unforgivable, Law comes
into action and imprisonment is the punishment.
However, not
even Law can apply justice effectively. Should be that case, some people may
act with vigilant justice. There is
one good reason why Marvel labelled the famous super hero league Avengers, which means people who avenge.
Vengeance is a way to disguise vigilant
justice. In other words, it is as simple as making justice on one’s hand
without any legal authority. In real life, there are cases of citizens
performing those activities. Particularly I had heard that someone knew a
soldier in disguise who killed three raiders planning to rob a bus. The
passengers acclaimed him as he was leaving the scene anonimously, I would probably myself have
reacted similarly as those passengers.
Nevertheless,
revenge is not always making good for the majority, it can lead to massive
destruction, war is a clear example.
Historically speaking, “since 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor,
the forces of the United States and her allies had been at war with Japan.”
That was during War World II. According to The Atomic Bomb website: “on August
6, 1945, at 9:15 AM Tokyo time, a B-29 plane, the ‘Enola Gay’ piloted by Paul W. Tibbets,
dropped a uranium atomic bomb, code named "Little Boy" on Hiroshima,
Japan's seventh largest city. In minutes, half of the city vanished. According
to U.S. estimates, 60,000 to 70,000 people were killed or missing, 140,000 were
injuried many more were made homeless as a result of the bomb. Deadly radiation
reached over 100,000. In the blast, thousands died instantly.” Not to mention
the second atomic bomb dropped in Nagasaki few days later.
To sum in all,
revenge is not the answer, as making use of it you loose one part of your soul
and your destiny will be affected instantly. Not everyone is a high trained
soldier who would be able to defend oneself against an attacker without
receiveing any harm, that is why the belief of Karma is still very strong.
Maybe the best decision is to call the authorities and pray that justice is
made properly. When it comes to war things get out of control, people who has
nothing to do with it pays the consequences. A more recent example is France
attacking Syria as reaction to the IS terrorist attack in Paris on November 13th,
2015. Whether taking or not vengeance against any damage that occurs in
everyones’ lives is the correct path to follow, is not for me to decide it, yet
is a personal decision that should be taken seriously because everyone is responsable
of their own actions.
Alethea: Rosalba Ramírez
Sources:
Definition of revenge in English:. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4th,
2015, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/revenge.
The free dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4th, 2015,
from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Vigilante justice.
The Concept Of Karma In Hinduism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4th,
2015, from http://www.hinduwebsite.com/conceptofkarma.asp
The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4th,
2015, from http://www.atomcentral.com/hiroshima-nagasaki.aspx.
