Justice vs Revenge
Justice and revenge can be considered as two different words that overlap in certain situations and, therefore, certainly some differences exist between the two terms, justice and revenge. Both can be interpreted as options when reacting to a particular action, which one views as unfair or wrong. We engage in actions of justice and revenge to let the other party know that they did something wrong, and that every wrong thing a person does has its consequences. However, justice and revenge are different from one another. Justice refers to right and fair behaviour. On the other hand, revenge refers to doing something harmful for a wrong or injury that has been caused. This highlights that the main difference between justice and revenge stem from justice being the correct method of dealing with the problem and revenge being more focused on hurting the offender rather than gaining fairness.
What is Justice?
When paying attention to the word justice, it is derived from the word just, which means fair. This serves as a reminder to everyone that when you do wrong, you have to deal with the consequences of what you did. In every society, there is a system of justice. This system has not only been created by the members of a particular community, but also has been agreed upon as the correct manner of handling offences. This system dictates rules and regulations for different types of offensive as well as deviant behaviour. This can be considered as an organized way of punishing those who do wrong.
Murder, burglary, sexual harassment can be considered as examples of crime, because they are all equated with a punishment, which is deemed as appropriate by the society. This allows the society to maintain the social order in a just manner. Those who commit offences are given a punishment, but the motive for punishing the individual is not hatred. It is only to restore fairness. For an example, a thief who has been stealing a number of valuables from a neighbourhood was caught by some of the neighbours. If the thief was sent to a police station where he would be given the punishment according to the existing laws, it is justice. It also has to be noted that in some cases justice has its own limitations. It is in such instances that people turn towards revenge as a means of gaining their own form of justice.
What is Revenge?
Revenge can be defined as doing something harmful for a wrong or injury that has been caused to a particular individual. The previous example can be taken to elucidate this term as well. Imagine the thief was caught by some neighbours, but was beaten to death as a punishment, this is revenge. It can be interpreted thus, because the people do not pay attention to the fairness of action and take justice to their own hands. It is completely driven by anger and hatred.
The significant characteristic is that unlike in the case of justice, in revenge, people are motivated to action due to the overwhelming emotions of anger. The common saying, a tooth for a toot, is usually the vengeful man’s battle cry. If the one who offended took away the precious things, there is a possibility for the other to retaliate in a similar manner.
What is the Difference Between Justice and Revenge?
- Justice is all about solving the problem in a systematic manner while revenge is letting your emotions rule over you and often leads to chaos.
- In justice, the focus is on gaining fairness by allowing the authorities judge and determine what type of punishment that person deserves but, in revenge, it is about retaliation.
- Justice helps to resolve a problem whereas revenge often leads to a bigger problem.
- Justice has rules and regulations whereas revenge acts upon emotion
Image Courtesy:
1.Justice by Mert1638 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
2.Revenge by Alchemica CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
