I’m working on a new book at the moment which isn’t a part of The Circle series and exploring ideas within a new story can throw up different reasons that cause the characters to do what they do, and one reason which popped up in my musings was the idea of revenge.
Revenge is an act of retribution for a wrong that had been committed and crops up all over the show as a way to motivate people.
The Wrath of Khan is a story which boils down to the pursuit of revenge of one person over another. Revenge of the Sith is the push back of a group and Revenge of the Nerds is up there with Citizen Kane and all hold the idea that there should be an action of retribution if you’re treated badly.
So should you?
The idea of pushing back against a tyrant who has been brutalizing people, claiming revenge for deaths or other atrocities, could be seen as noble. Those who are willing to chase after the monster and bring them to a form of justice are brave, are righteous.
But then what if the revenge you seek is for a perceived injustice?
Inego Montoya seeks out the one who killed his father, OK, understandable, but I also saw an episode of CSI something (there’s loads of ’em, I can’t recall which) where a deaf man was beaten to death because a group of people thought that he was ‘disrespecting’ them when he didn’t respond to shouts which were coming from behind him. Not quite so accessible as a motivation.
Revenge is a great tool for an author but when you come to put it into play, you have to make sure that the driving cause is one that makes sense. If the reader doesn’t believe that the character should be seeking revenge, you’re kippered.
But what about revenge in the real world?
Have you ever been driven to seek revenge on someone?
Has something been done to you which made you want to turn that same poison back on the one who sent it your way?
Revenge is a powerful force which can help drive change but knowing that our motivation is still walking the right side of the line is all too often the piece of the puzzle that gets lost, and that’s when really nasty choices can be made. And all too often, the worst outcomes of all come about when people don’t even care about which side of that line they fall.
In short, as a writer, I have to remember never to push people, character or reader, so far that they don’t care about just how cold the revenge is going to ultimately become.
Owen Elgie 
I explore this in my historical novel, Vengeance of a Slave, and the effect the desire for vengeance has on the person. It’s an interesting thought, though, about whether or not one should seek revenge. Some are understandable, but others, like the deaf man, are not.
It does seem that finding the line where any acts cross from one side to the other is the real task. Writing it then becomes much more fun though.