BEST SERVED COLD

How many of us have watched a film or read a book which has the theme of revenge front and centre?

It’s a fair bet that we have and with titles like The Count of Monte Cristo, Hamlet, and Wuthering Heights in the books column and A Time to Kill, Kill Bill, and Gladiator there for the films, it’s far from surprising.

Regardless of the different genres on display in these examples, that central tent pole that everything hangs from remains rigid due to the universal recognition of the feeling of wanting to even the scales after being wronged.

You’ve got your own story, haven’t you?

Be it huge to the level of a super heroes origin story or tiny that someone ate the last biscuit in the barrel despite knowing that it was yours, we all know the sting of being slighted, of someone else robbing you of something where you’ve wanted to get your own back.

It’s primal.

We know what we went through to achieve what we have and for someone to come in and take anything from us against our wishes is an affront to modern sensibilities and the laws of the land but it reaches back to our animal brain as well, easily pointing out that we’re seen as having evolutionary weakness, that there are those out there who are stronger than you and they can do what they want to you.

Now these days, we’re not living in caves having to navigate violent challenges for food and station but our societies still have us held in no less powerful webs. We all sit in place and go about our business but there are still those who are stronger, though now rather than just the physical threat, we have to accept that there are people who are more powerful in less brutish ways who can take from us even more quickly.

That shared knowledge that we all sit in a world where there are going to be those who decide that they want our stuff and are able to get away with it just hurts.

From the school yard bully who beats us up through to adult violent crimes, we know the feeling of helplessness and having the chance to redress the balance against those who’ve wronged us. We can concoct ways that we can smash the bully back, hurt those who’ve hurt us but that also goes for the white collar takers as well.

Politically speaking, a candidate can make sweeping promises and pledges of what they’ll do when they get into power yet not only not deliver but actively work against the best interest of those who put them into power. Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are just the most recent examples of say one thing then do another. We want to see them held to account for the lies that they’ve told rather than just disappear with all the money.

Revenge is an ugly topic up close and personal and can make you rot from within if you let it consume you but recognising that something is wrong and doing something about it to redress the balance is really a pure ideal, no?

If those in whatever position of power are left to ride roughshod over others, there’s going to be more and more suffering. We should all be looking out for the rest of us, just maybe not kitted out in tactical gear with a white skull sprayed on our chest.

Stay safe all.

BEST SERVED COLD

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.