NCJ Number
105333
Date Published
1987
Length
177 pages
Annotation
This book analyzes the origin, development, and meaning of individual and collective forms of vengeance in Western society.
Abstract
The book identifies and discusses the cultural, psychological, and social forces that have helped to form the concept of retributive justice as it currently exists in the public mind and the legal system. Drawing upon representations of vengeance in Greek mythology, Shakespeare's plays, Dante's 'Inferno,' the folklore of the wild west, the mafia, and contemporary films, the book examines the historic and cultural manifestations of the need to inflict punishment on one's enemies. The discussion contends that all acts of vengeance arise from an elemental sense of injustice (a feeling of being arbitrarily subjected to a tyrannical force against which one is powerless to act), with the injured party being motivated by a desire for equality, justice, and reciprocity. The book traces the ways vengeance has developed and changed over the centuries and has affected legal systems, moral codes, and cultural myths. The epilogue portrays the 'ghost of vengeance' as the effort of developed societies to gain general obedience to the forces of good by showing that evil is powerless against the designs of the planned society. Lone avengers who respond to a perceived injustice cannot change the course of history nor restore the balance between good and evil, but they can keep alive the perception that evil cannot have its way with impunity against ordinary persons. Chapter notes and subject index.