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Essays on forgiveness
Essays on forgiveness
Narrative essay of forgiveness sets one free
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Revenge is Not the Key
Revenge is when a person gets back at another person for doing actions that affects them negatively. Gandhi once said “ An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.”. By that Gandhi means that seeking revenge would eventually make the whole world a revengeful place. When injustice is committed to seek revenge will only lead to more problems, while forgiveness leads to the peace of mind. This is seen in the short story “Ashes of Vengeance”.
In the story “Ashes of Vengeance” by Henry Van Dyke the author uses characterization to represent when injustice is committed seeking revenge will only lead to more problems, while forgiveness leads to the peace of mind. As declared in the by The Avenger: “I ask only the right
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to revenge my sufferings upon those who have inflicted them"(Van Dyke). This depicts that The Avenger was a vengeful person . He wants revenge so badly he is willing to go against his own people and help the invaders.Also that he perhaps thinks that revenge would make up for the pain caused by the people towards him. Furthermore stated in the story “But the fire of hatred is burnt out, and in the ashes of vengeance, we are going to plant the seeds of peace”(Van Dyke). This displays The Avenger changed from being vengeful to peaceful and forgiving. Perhaps he is changed from seeing the harm that he could have done by seeing innocent people scared and suffering. If he did take his vengeance, he would not have the peace of mind, but when he forgave he achieved that. Much like “ Ashes of Vengeance” The Age’s article “I had the chance to kill him...
I have chosen to forgive” agrees with the idea that when injustice is committed seeking revenge will only lead to more problems, while forgiveness leads to the peace of mind. In the article, “I had the chance to kill him... I have chosen to forgive” talks about the chaos and war in central Africa. Also it talks about the traumatizing events witnessed by Ivan Mugisha like people getting abducted and women getting raped. Ivan is a refugee that live in the town that was apprehended by a militia group called Lord’s Resistance Army. Ivan announced, "I have had the chance to kill him many times, but I have chosen to forgive him" ("I Had the Chance"). This presents that even though Ivan had many chances to kill a the man that raped, killed and abducted his people and family but he didn't do it. It also shows the type of person he is, forgiving. Perhaps he knows that if he kills him, it would lead to more problems and would not make him any better than the man so he forgives. This is also like in the ‘Ashes of Vengeance’ how The Avenger did not get his revenge, but forgives the people who treated him atrociously and still acquired his peace of mind like Ivan Mugisha. Overall seen by these two men that seeking revenge will only lead to more problems, while forgiveness leads to the peace of
mind. Others may claim that people will only find peace of mind by seeking vengeance. As stated in the article ¨Don't Get Mad, Get Even¨, ¨I felt a strange thrill as I went through this house tearing up his clothes slashing his furniture, breaking his favourite CDs, cutlery, and messing his music system, the television and the cooker (Karuoya).¨ Even though she felt ¨thrill¨, she vandalized her ex boyfriend's things. Vandalizing could have heavy consequences. Also, her ex boyfriend could sue her for money showing that vengeance would lead to more problems. Since she destroyed her boyfriend's things, it makes her look like a bad person. Also, she probably wasted time on breaking his things, if she had forgave him she would not wasted time thinking about the past and move on.Also she would not have consequences if she forgave. All in all the claim, people will find peace of mind by seeking revenge is false, the way to find peace of mind is through forgiveness. In the end, it has been proven that forgiveness is the key to gaining a peace of mind.¨Ashes of vengeances¨ depicts this through the actions of The Avenger,while "Don't Get Mad, Get Even." shows the pleasure of getting revenge. Others might claim that revenge is the right way to gain a piece of mind, but this is not the case in the article “I had the chance to kill him... I have chosen to forgive.” This shows that Mohandas Gandhi’s quote is legitimate, forgiveness is the key to the peace of mind, letting the person move on and skip the drama when seeking revenge.
The definition of revenge: “to punish somebody who has harmed you or harmed a friend” (Revenge, web).
Revenge is the opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction for a real or perceived slight ("revenge"). In “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor, the narrator, is out for revenge. Montressor seeks revenge against Fortunato and thinks he has developed the perfect plan for “revenge with impunity” (Baym). Montresor never tells the reader why he feels Fortunato deserves punishment. He only says that Fortunato causes him “a thousand injuries”until “[venturing] upon insult” (Baym?).
While revenge may feel sweet at times, in most cases it is destructive to yourself and those around you. The article “Revenge:Will You Feel Better?” makes one contemplate this, and draws the question “is revenge really worth it?” Well, in the article, Karyn Hall suggests that “Revenge can be a strong urge, but you may not feel better if you act on it.” In fact, in a study performed by Kevin Carlsmith showed that “...the students that got revenge reported feeling worse than those who didn't…” With this, one may see that revenge is pointless, and in most cases leaves you feeling worse than the people you performed it
Evil exists naturally in the world, and there are many acts that are considered evil. As a result, evil is often a theme in literature. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare, and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe each rely heavily on evil to portray a message. Out of all of the evil acts that exist, exacting revenge is the evilest act that a person can make, for a person’s rash decision to exact revenge will ruin their sense of morality. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes in “Hamlet” each commit terrible acts of revenge, as does Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
For the meek, vengeance pleasures the soul; however, it is only temporal. Like an addictive drug, revenge soothes anger and tension by sedating the mind with ephemeral comfort. Despite the initial relief, pain ensues and conditions seem worse than before. Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the non-violence movement in India, stated once that “an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” There is no such thing as a sweet revenge.
experiences with revenge what his actions caused. It shows that getting revenge is never the
... lack of need for it as his negative qualities seal his fate and the old sage shows the benefit of having faith and forgiving those who have betrayed them. Rather than focusing on getting revenge, one should strive to move forward with their life. All that revenge does is slow down the personal growth of an individual; the consequences far outweigh the benefits.
"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind"(Gandhi) An eye for an eye, or revenge, has been a theme that has shown up in many literary pieces throughout history. Although revenge is a common theme in many literary pieces, the reason and outcome of the revenge is often very varied. In “A Poison Tree” by William Blake shows that wrath left unattended will cause more damage oneself and others, in this case resulting in death, as it grows and develops into a form of revenge. In “The Cone” by H.G. Wells there is also a theme of revenge brought about by the entrapment of emotions leading to a revengeful death but this death results in the seeker of revenge feeling remorse. This essay will compare how the murderers in both “A Poison Tree” and “The Cone” feel about the deaths they’ve caused and how their emotions affect the overall theme of the text as a whole.
The motivation and tendency of people to forgive others remains an important topic of discussion. In today’s society most people at some period have experienced feeling of un forgiveness towards friend, or relatives. “Forgiveness was defined as the ability to relinquish of resentment towards others” (Baskin & Enright, 2004, p. 80).
Revenge is a fairly strong emotion; it’s wanting to retaliate towards those who wronged you. Revenge is such an uncontrollable form of retaliation that it can result in a destructive outcome or be carried out successfully. Although the results may vary, revenge sums up to one thing which is pain of some sort, affecting both parties or just one. Throughout history, we see many tales of revenge and redemption. Often revenge does leave the one carrying it out feeling victorious, but this can suddenly change as the process of karma generally begins in some tales.
Justice is part of revenge; as also for revenge is part of justice. “Justice” comes from a Latin word that means “straight, fair, equal”, it’s the quality of being righteous and loyal towards one’s state, although serves the interests of the stronger (Hourani, 1962), while revenge is the act of taking retaliation for injuries or wrongs. What ever the circumstances are being the individual who experiences a unjust act, results in the hunt for one of these two things: Justice or revenge. What are the key differences between the two? Justice can be defined as the concept of moral rightness, which is based on the rules of law, fairness, ethics, and equality among the governed citizens. Revenge, on the other hand, refers to an action taken by an individual as a response to an act of injustice. The principle of revenge is “an eye for an eye”…. Can revenge be justified and be as equally part of justice if they both seek retribution for a wrongdoing?
Revenge is such an enormous part of a being human. It is something that no matter how much you try to avoid part of you will persistently lust for it. When you are hurt in any way your natural instinct will always tell you to make the one who hurt you feel just as bad if not worse as how you felt. It is such a natural and powerful feeling, that when revenge is incorporated into a story it makes it so much stronger. Revenge will make you see so many more sides of characters and make them seem much more complex. Revenge can give fictional characters a more human quality. That is why so many writers use it as their theme.
There is usually a feeling of change and attitude that regards positive alternatives towards an offender. In this situation acts like vengefulness is overlooked. In short, contrary or deconstructive emotions are not included in the predicament. Forgiveness is one of the best elements of the pro-social emotions that assist in improving the mental position of an individual including the surrounding environment. Forgiveness also leads to peaceful environments. It is also described as a legal terminology for giving up all claims on the perception of debt or duty to do something (Kimonis et al., 1249). Forgiveness on social grounds is not considered in politics. This pro-social emotion gives a relief on things that cannot be replaced. The term is mostly used in religion. People spiritually understand why forgiveness is appropriate and spread it. Therefore, the mental situation of the kind person and the one forgiven is stable and at peace. Activities run well without fear of meeting the party one has offended. Thus freedom of mind and operation is restored. This implies that physical health, well being, of the human body is at peace too. Those who apply forgiveness many times achieve a lot because they save time in doing constructive
Forgiveness is virtue, and yet it is one the most vital and toughest emotions to give or receive. People tend to remember only the unpleasant and undesirable actions of others or themselves which arise feelings of resentment and of revenge. Forgiveness is overcoming these feelings and instead to feel acceptance. Forgiveness allows people to live without hard feelings towards one another and allows us to clear our minds of blame, hate, anger, and other unpleasant emotions.
People can be motivated to take revenge on others for various reasons. While these reasons may be considered as very serious or rather trivial, they are all motives for revenge. Revenge occurs when a person has been offended or angered by an individual and in result they have the desire to pay them back. People’s opinions on revenge differ from each other, some may believe it is justified and some don’t. Mahatma Ghandi believed that revenge is not the answer and he stated that “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. This quote portrays the opinion that if everyone gets even then there will be no one else; if we all take an eye for an eye everyone would be blind. Revenge can be learnt through real life experiences as well as fiction and can be shown as justice or unacceptable. It becomes difficult to determine when revenge can be justified but is revenge always worth it?