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Why is it bad for the Hero to get Revenge?

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Prime_of_Perfection Where force fails, cunning prevails Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Where force fails, cunning prevails
#76: Oct 27th 2012 at 10:14:07 PM

I think memememememe pretty much summed it up at this point.

Ultimate reason why revenge is not ideal is because it can lead to destructive acts one could avoid if rational. Not all fall to lust for vengeance, but it's dangerous thing to work from.

Of course it doesn't mean one shouldn't stop opposing force either. It just comes down to motivation as to why you're doing it and how it's making you act.

edited 27th Oct '12 10:14:16 PM by Prime_of_Perfection

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Bananaquit A chub from the Grant Corporation from The Darién Gap Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
A chub from the Grant Corporation
#77: Oct 28th 2012 at 1:57:25 PM

Fold in what Moe Dantes said too; I’ve seen lots of Chinese films where revenge is the primary motivation for the protagonist. It seems to be a cultural thing, desire for revenge seems to be perceived as a personality flaw in Western culture, but Eastern culture can see it more as an honourable wish.

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Robbery Since: Jul, 2012
#78: Oct 28th 2012 at 2:34:59 PM

It descends from Christianity, which affects Western thinking whether the thinker is Christian or not. Bot the ideas that "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay," and that one is supposed to forgive the transgressions of others (there's some discrepancy on this one, as some interpretations have it that one should forgive only where fogiveness is genuinely desired by the transgressor). The tricky thing is, many pre-Christian European cultures had no problem at all with the notion of revenge. Nordic cultures even had it that, under certain circumstances, a killer could pay a fee (called wergild, litterally "man-gold") to the family of his victim which would then head-off their taking revenge on him. We here in the West often tend to be a bit ambivalent on the subject of revenge, even if logic would seem to dictate it's better for one's mental health to let stuff go, if at all possible. Revenge does make for good drama, though.

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