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.