Revenge Is Sweet

Revenge is sweet. Is it or is it not? We often find ourselves in a situation where we consider whether or not to take matters into our own hands. A scene in William Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ says, “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” but the Bible says in Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

During the middle ages, most would not regard an insult or injury as settled until there is bloodshed. In Japan’s feudal past, the Samurai class maintained the honour of their family, clan or lord through the practice of revenge killings. Nemo Me Impune Lacessit was the Latin motto of the Royal Stewart dynasty of Scotland ¬that means 'nobody shall provoke/injure me with impunity’. So, I ask you, is revenge really sweet?

Everything has advantages and disadvantages, including revenge. Revenge can satisfy the urge to extract vengeance, it will teach those people who have hurt you not to take you lightly and of course, it will honour the cause of your vengeance. There is also a complete gratification of knowing that the person who has hurt you is suffering. But what does that make you? It makes you just as bad as them. It will earn you the reputation of being ruthless and relentless. Worse of all, it could lead to another unfortunate event that could affect the people around you, especially the people that you love.

You see, revenge is driven by three things: hurt, anger and violence. I could not imagine the pain that my father went through or the anger that he felt when the man that he looked up to was taken away from him only at the age of five. When I was a young girl, my father told me how his father died. There were four bullet holes in his body: two at the back of his head, one on his shoulder and one on his side. A relative came knocking at the door in the middle of the night, only to show my grandfather’s bloody jacket with bullet holes in it. That was when my father saw how his mother got heartbroken. He saw how every night for the next twelve months; his poor mother was calling out for her dead husband. My father knew who the killer was and as he grew up, he had one mind set: To avenge his father’s death. There was no justice, no integrity and no righteousness for what they’ve done.  I never knew until recently that my father wanted to become an engineer, only to earn money, hire someone and you can all just fill in the blanks. My father’s mind set changed when he was in college and that was when he met God and my mom. He learned to forgive. He was able to move on and set his sights on a happier and none revenge-driven future.

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We’ve all been through different kinds of pain, haven’t we? They say that our best revenge is to move on and live our lives the way it was meant to be. Some people believe in karma – “what comes around goes around” – and some people don’t. We all have our own beliefs, culture, morals and principles in life, but before extracting our revenge we must always ask ourselves these questions: Will it make us happy? Will it rectify the situation? And will it lessen the pain?

Therefore, in my own opinion, I don’t think revenge is sweet at all. It makes us a bitter person and it holds us back from moving on to a better future. Revenge can be a drive or an obsession. It blurs the lines between right and wrong. It ruins our morals and our principles in life. I know that revenge will not make us happy nor will it lessen the pain. So, let’s just leave it to someone with higher power and know that someday, somehow, we’ll learn to forgive those people and show them we’re no longer held prisoner by the pain and anger that they’ve caused.