My Opinion on Revenge

Revenge

                Revenge is defined as the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone else for an injury or wrong suffered at the former’s hands. I don’t believe that we should ever take revenge on anyone. The concept of “an eye for an eye” is one that leads to a viscous cycle. Revenge is an idea that causes people to believe that hurting others is okay when it’s really not.

                People take revenge for many different reasons. Sometimes people do it because they believe others should suffer as they themselves have. Other times, people do it because they feel it will make them feel happier.  They believe that if they bring hurt to the ones who hurt them, they’ll stop feeling so bad. This is never the case. Decisions made from anger or sadness usually only end in regret because temporarily feelings would have caused permanent damage.

                Revenge is human nature. It’s human nature to feel angry and it’s human nature to act in order to rectify that anger. This was shown clear in what is known as one of most famous revenge cases of all time. In 2006, Anthony Stockelman, a man charged with murdering a 10-year-old girl (Katie Collman), was sentenced to life in prison. Anthony was transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (located in Indiana) which was, coincidentally, the same place Katie’s cousin was serving time. Katie’s cousin and a few other inmates forcible gave Anthony a permanent tattoo across his forehead. It read, “Katie’s Revenge.” Most of the inmates didn’t even know Katie, but they acted in anger knowing the amount of violence Anthony had committed toward her. The other inmates didn’t think through their actions; they simply took revenge based off of their impulses.

                I believe that revenge can theoretically cause a positive outcome, but, it would be short-lived. For example, a person could kill a man who has done wrong to many people. The positive result would be that this man would no longer be able to hurt others and that the families of the victims could have a little relief. This positivity would only last for a slight moment, though, before someone decides to take revenge again. The murdered man’s son could feel angry and kill more people to avenge his father causing even more death and negativity, for instance. Revenge always results in a negative outcome because revenge is a cycle. It’s a cycle of violence and hatred that is hard to stop after it’s been started. It’s just as Ishmael Beah said, “…revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end…”.