Count of Monte Cristo II: This time, It's Revenge!

March 23 met with a snowstorm, meaning we braved the elements to get Jacob to his promised Laser Tag Birthday celebration.  It also meant cancellation of last week's book discussion about the first 1/3 of the Count of Monte Cristo.  It was rescheduled for Saturday, March 30, and I got to go.

As always it was a good discussion and enlightening.  And, as with all discussions, I revisited it many times in my mind.  However, what I thought was an understood and widely-accepted maxim turned into the crux of the debate. It turns out that revenge has more sympathy as a motive than I ever expected.  I always believed (and still do) that revenge, although a very tempting motive, is ultimately a bad motive.  In my mind, the discussion got turned on its logical head and I've been trying to set it right in my own mind these last few days.

Two concepts raised in the discussion gave me pause.  First was the assertion that "forgive and forget" is selfish and that revenge (as opposed to justice) should be used as a protection for others.  The second was the assumption that anyone's feelings of "forgive and forget" should understandably fall aside once an "extreme" (undefined) injustice happens to a loved one.

I disagree with these points and feel more comfortable giving thorough reasons after reflection.  Forgiveness is gracious, but revenge is selfish, and this should hold true in the face of any injustice suffered.  But, as I will try to explain, I think the confusion resulted from a mixing of revenge and justice (two very different things).  I think we are tempted to fill in the gaps of our always-imperfect system of justice.  Some seem to allow or at least tolerate that those gaps may (or even should) be filled with revenge.  I just cannot go there.

The clip below from Les Miserable is one of my favorite.  The act of kindness and forgiveness from the bishop allowed Jean Valjean a level of self-reflection that inspired actual change and removed a criminal from the lives of others in a way temporary imprisonment never could.  It is also an example of the benefits of grace over revenge.