Themes of Vengeance, Greed, and Anger in Literature Essay Sample

📌Category: Literature
📌Words: 704
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 18 June 2022

Most of us have morals, we know what’s right and what’s wrong, so why? Why do some constantly choose to do wrong? In “Ruthless” by William DeMille, Judson devises a vindictive plan that could murder someone even after being reminded it was wrong. In “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, Norma is offered $50,000 in return for pressing a red button and ending someone’s life. Nonetheless, she was continuously told it’s immoral but she does it anyway. Lastly, in “Lamb of the Slaughter” by Rohl Dahl, Mary had murdered her husband even though, she was 6 months pregnant and knew there would be consequences. Vengeance, greed, and anger are common factors that motivate people to do bad things.

Vengeance is one of the many factors that push a person to do wrong.  In “Ruthless”, Judson conceives a cruel and merciless plan that could potentially kill someone all because someone had drunk his whiskey the winter before. His wife Marcia, had gone into the room to find Judson with liquor and thought he was drinking when really, he was adding rat poison to his liquor. Marcia repeatedly told Judson that it was horrible and murder, but still Judson said, “The law doesn’t call it murder if I shoot a theif who is entering my house by force,” he said harshly. “Also the use of rat poison is quite legal. The only way any rat can get into this closet is to break in. What happens then is his affair, not mine.” (17)  This showed that Judson was so preoccupied with the thought of someone stealing from him again that he ignored what was right.

Greed can manipulate and change people therefore, causing people to do wrong.  Norma knows the consequences of pushing the button, she knows that it would murder someone. While Norma and her husband Arthur were arguing whether they should push the button or not, Norma kept trying to get Arthur to agree with her. Arthur endlessly tried to change Norma's way of thinking by telling her, “The point is, Norma,” he continued, “what's the difference whom you kill? It’s still murder.”(105) But still, she tries justifying it by saying, “The point is,” Norma broke in, “if it’s someone you’ve never seen in your life and never will see, someone whose death you don’t even have to know about, you still wouldn’t push the button?”(106) Norma was only thinking about herself and what affected her instead of thinking about how it would have affected others. Norma and Arthur were eating breakfast when Norma brought up the button again. She had been determined to persuade Arthur into agreeing with her but still he refused so she said,“That I’d like for us to go to Europe. Like for us to have a cottage on the island. Like for us to have a nicer apartment, nicer furniture, nicer clothes, a car. Like for us to finally have a baby, for that matter.”(137)  This revealed that greed had blinded Norma. She was so caught up in what she would have done with the money instead of what she would have to do to acquire it. 

Many make bad decisions out of anger. In “Lamb of the Slaughter”, Mary and her husband Patrick had a discussion about their relationship that agitated Mary. When Patrick got home Mary rushed to his needs and tried pleasing him by getting him whiskey and trying to feed him but he repeatedly told her to sit. “She moved uneasily in her chair, the large eyes still watching his face. “But you must eat! I’ll fix it anyway, and then you can have it or not, as you like.” She stood up and placed her sewing on the table by the lamp. “Sit down,” he said. “Just for a minute, sit down.” It wasn’t till then that she began to get frightened. “Go on,” he said. “Sit down.”(24-28) Mary was confused as to why Patrick insisted that she stay and sit until he explained to her that he no longer wanted to be in a relationship. In a state of shock, Mary decided to go down to the cellar to get something to cook and in the freezer she found a leg of lamb. When she got back upstairs Patrick had said,  “For God’s sake,” he said, hearing her, but not turning round. “Don’t make supper for me. I’m going out.”(41) She then brought the frozen leg of lamb in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.

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