The Revenge Cycle

In my opinion The Kentucky Cycle should have been named The Revenge Cycle, hence the title above.  I say this because throughout the book there is this reoccurring theme of revenge.  Michael Rowen kills Earl Todd over the guns Todd sold to the Indians they later used it attack Zion. That’s just one of many instances of revenge in the Kentucky Cycle.  Now I’m tasked with tying revenge to the modern world. Is there revenge in the modern world? Oh yes, it’s everywhere! A few years ago there was a story of a man killing a whole family just because someone in that family ran over the man’s dog. In the killers eyes it was an eye for an eye. It was a way for him to cope with his dog’s death. I could sit here and give examples of revenge in today’s society, but I’m going to talk about why it happens. Revenge is a primitive, destructive, and violent response to anger, injury, or humiliation. It is a misguided attempt to transform shame into pride. Many governments, religions, traditions, and cultures provide guidance on when revenge may and may not be sought. Unfortunately this guidance is often unsatisfactory because it can lead to escalated violence.  So revenge isn’t anything to play around with. It has got many people the death penalty or a life time in jail. Revenge has no place in the world today. The passion for revenge is strong and sometimes almost overwhelming. But our intuitive logic about revenge is often twisted which makes it extremely dangerous. In many cases it could have avoided, in the Kentucky Cycle and in the real world. But in the Kentucky cycle it’s a stereo type in play. It depicts Appalachian people as violent people. But were not at all, if people would take the time to see us they would realize were just like them. We all know we can’t fix ignorance.

-L