Revenge: Poisonous-soul-slayer

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.

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 13^th, 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 4^th, 2015, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/revenge.

The free dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4^th, 2015, from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Vigilante justice.

The Concept Of Karma In Hinduism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4^th, 2015, from http://www.hinduwebsite.com/conceptofkarma.asp

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4^th, 2015, from http://www.atomcentral.com/hiroshima-nagasaki.aspx.