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Revenge Will Always Bite Back - Caroline Tucker

 I think all of us have been in a literature class long enough to know that revenge always backfires. I am looking at you, Iliad. I find it interesting that in every story we have read so far, revenge has been a common denominator. I do not understand why people never figured out that revenge makes things worse. Revenge plays a huge role in Beowulf. In the assigned section, revenge is twofold. There is revenge enacted by the mother of Grendel and by Beowulf. 

The first revenge is when Grendel’s mother comes to the place of Grendel’s demise and lashes out against the people associated to Beowulf (89-90). The second is when Beowulf hunts Grendel’s mother and fights her. Both instances involve killing because someone has been killed. This type of action is blatantly seen in the texts we read last semester. We discussed how when one kills it does not seem to stop. It continually shifts from my people being killed to me killing the people who killed. It is very interesting to think that this is how people lived their lives in that time. It was an endless cycle of vigilante justice.

We today have a justice system that allows for the cycle to end. Not only that but as Christians, revenge is a sin. In 1 Peter 3:9 it says, “not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing for blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (NKJ). This verse calls Christians to turn return with blessing not evil. So, not only does taking revenge seem to come back to hurt later, as Christians it should not be done at all, because it is a sin against God. 


P.s. I commented on Clabo’s and Emma Kate’s posts.


Comments

  1. Addison ZandaFebruary 22, 2021 at 11:13 PM

    Sadly when we look at today's society, the idea of tearing people down verbally and/or getting revenge is somehow acceptable. As we shift to God's kingdom, revenge and insults are both unacceptable. Revenge will not stop until that one person is satisfied. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Braylan StringfellowFebruary 23, 2021 at 8:59 AM

    You did a great job of pointing out how vigilante justice does not work. Although our modern day justice system is flawed, I'd rather have it than this endless killing that we saw in Beowulf.

    ReplyDelete

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