(422 words) Can revenge be justified? This is a complex ethical question that everyone will answer in their own way. However, no one can honestly say until he finds himself in a situation where justice and revenge in his mind merge together. Someone can overcome themselves and abandon evil in response to evil. But most people, I think, will strike back. And in some situations, I can justify them. I will give examples from the literature.
There are times when revenge is the only way to achieve justice. For example, in the book of V.P. Astafyev “The Little Girl”, the young girl was raped by criminals. One of them, the instigator, had just returned from prison and attacked the heroine in a dark park, forcing other accomplices to seize her power so that they were all connected by one crime. The unfortunate victim did not find support from anyone: her mentor said that this was the norm, her mother was busy creating a new family, and the boyfriend she knew had become one of the rapists. No one showed due participation in her fate. Desperate Luda hanged herself, not finding a way out. Upon learning of this, her stepfather went and brutally beat Strekach, the very man who first attacked the girl. I understand that this is lynching, but I can’t blame the hero, because his anger is worthy of justification, since the government was inactive and no one could stop the criminals.
In M. Gorky's book Makar Chudra, young gypsies could not find a common language. Rudda and Loiko loved each other, but were too proud and independent to recognize the power of feeling over themselves. The heroine delivered an ultimatum to her lover: either he kneels in front of her with all the pressure, or she will never marry him. After the conversation, he thought long and hard. And here they are standing opposite each other, and the woman is already looking forward to victory. But suddenly Loiko kills her and falls on her knees in front of her, as she wanted to. The heroine only whispered that the chosen one did everything right. But Radda’s father thought differently and killed a young gypsy. He avenged his daughter, and Loiko knew that would be so. The old man cannot be condemned, because the loss of a child is the most terrible shock in the life of a parent, and this grief cannot be forgotten or mitigated. Moreover, the young man perfectly understood what he was doing, killing his daughter in front of his father.
Thus, in some cases revenge can be justified, because sometimes people no longer have anyone to rely on except themselves. Leaving criminals without punishment, they doom new victims to slaughter. There are also cases when an attacker himself calls for retaliation, realizing guilt and taking the measure that he has chosen who has the moral right to give the criminal what he deserves. I believe that in these situations, revenge can be justified.
