“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could: but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. ” This quote by Montressor clearly illustrates his hatred toward Fortunato; enough for him to vow revenge. The famous saying “revenge is a dish best served cold” depicts how vengeance is most satiating when obtained in cold blood. However, that does not apply to everyone. There are many factors that come to play when determining how a specific individual feels psychologically, which makes it often difficult to determine what goes through an individual’s head in regards to revenge (since everyone is different.
Rather, it depends more on a person’s view toward society or the world today, which usually distinguish them from one another. Revenge on the human mind is truly a recondite subject. First off, what is revenge? Revenge may come in a variety of definitions. The desire for vengeance, the need of retaliation against the perpetrator, the payback for humiliation or injury, and the list continues (Baker. ) Basically revenge is the opposite of reciprocity. Generally, people want to restore their pride or honor and turn to vengeance as a method of doing so.
They usually yearn for a sincere apology directly from the perpetrator and want to gain acceptance that what the aggressor did was wrong. The question is, for what purpose do humans seek out revenge? In an issue of Psychological Science, they reported that the more a person believed in a just world before the attacks, the more distress the person experiences and they have a stronger desire for revenge. In the book, The Count of Monte Cristo,the main character,Edmond Dantes, has his life on track. He has a lovely fiancee, Mercedes’, and is even the next fugleman of a French ship, the Pharaon.
His life rotates 180 degrees when a conspiracy, created by four haughty and jealous men, winds him up in an unjust prison which no living soul has escaped. For this reason Dantes swears revenge against the group for the unfairness he has been put through and vows to see them tremulously shake in fear (The Count. ) In this case, a motive for revenge could be due to unjust and unfairness (Dumas. ) Others may feel angry, jealousy, hurt, shameful,hatred, and envy when seeking out vengeance. Some may even do it to restore honor for their family,friends, or community.
There are countless numbers of reasons as to why someone might take revenge against another. They feel humiliated, powerless, made fun of, dumb, hopeless,etc (Emotional. ) The problem with violence is hurt people hurt people which is often why people look to revenge(Baker. ) Not everyone has the same perception of revenge. It may depend on how a person views society, rules, or their culture. As part of his research, Ian McKee interviewed 150 university students questions about how they feel about revenge.
The students who had humble and respect for traditions and society were the ones with the more favorable opinions for revenge. Culture also plays a role because, sometimes different events set off a variety of revenge thoughts in depending on the culture cultures. For example,as part an experiment, studies showed American students felt slighted most when their rights have been violated. On the other hand, Korean students felt more slighted when their sense of duty and obligation has been harmed.
When American students’ rights have been violated there is a possibility of that person taking revenge(Price. But does revenge really make you feel better? An experiment by Kevin Carlsmith on revenge talks about whether revenge makes you feel better or worse. He set up a scenario that gives a group of students the chance to take revenge against one person who betrayed them. The students who took revenge reported feeling worse compared to those that did not, but each person assumed they would’ve felt worse if they had not gotten back at the offender. The students who did not receive the chance of vengeance believed they would have felt good if they had the chance.
The survey says the group that did not take revenge was the more contented group. That does not mean revenge can never be sweet. Retaliation alone was not enough for the avenger to have satisfaction. The offender should know the connection between the reason for payback and the original insult( The Complicated. ) Everyone has diverse insights on revenge. In the Bible, Exodus 21:23, says “give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” when consequencing an offender.
But much, much later, Martin Luther King Jr. aid,”The old law of ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. ” As psychologists explore the deeper meaning of revenge, both thoughts can be true,for different people, but it all breaks down on who the person is. For a person who sought after power, revenge can be a message to tell your peers and surroundings you are not to be messed with. On the other hand, if you want the rule of law to be in order, revenge simply keeps everything in its place.
Ian McKee says, “Those personalities tend to be less forgiving, less benevolent and less focused on universal-connectedness-type alues. ”What McKee received from his research is, students who care more about rules and society has a more likely chance to commit the act of revenge than others(Price. ) In conclusion there are a variety of perceptions on revenge. For example, In the Cask of Amontillado, the whole plot was about Montressor seeking revenge against Fortunato because he was insulted. Studies say generally most people don’t necessarily feel good after revenge. That doesn’t mean revenge can never feel good however.
Mario Gollwitzer says,”I think that taking revenge has generally a low chance of being successful or satisfying for the avenger. I was interested in those instances in which revenge can be ‘sweet,’ and I wondered what it exactly is that makes revenge sweet for the avenger. ”(The Complicated. ) There are many factors that determine how revenge connects to the human mind psychologically and those who take revenge don’t necessarily feel better afterwards. So, will it be better to forego revenge and possibly think about forgiveness?
