Who Should Get Revenge? Hamlet or Laertes?

In William Shakespeare's play of Hamlet, the characters Hamlet and Laertes both experience the deaths of their fathers, but Laertes also experiences the death of his sister, Ophelia. Hamlet learns about how his father was murdered by his uncle, the new king, Claudius, through his father's ghost. Hamlet never liked his uncle and now his father wants Hamlet to avenge his death on his uncle. I felt that Hamlet was trying to do the right thing, but he went about it in the wrong way. First he completely crushed Ophelia's dreams of possibly marrying her. Hamlet takes his time to plot against the king, but on one occasion when he is talking to his mother, he impulsively kills Polonius, Laertes and Ophelia's father. This brings Ophelia to complete madness. Hamlet does avenge his father's death but shortly after he dies as well. Laertes had a greater reason for getting revenge on Hamlet. Hamlet killed his father, and Laertes blamed Hamlet for the cause of his sister's madness as well as for her death. Laertes, I felt, had a more grounded reason for wanting to kill Hamlet. Laertes went about it in a better way, by allying with the King, but in the end he realized that this was nonsense to want revenge like this. Laertes gave up to Hamlet that it was the King who poisoned his mother, Gertrude, and the duel to have Hamlet killed was also the King's idea.

In today's world, this happens, though we do not see it, we know that it is still there. People believe that they should get revenge on those who ruined their lives or people in their lives. For example, the ABC series Revenge is about a woman who is determined to get revenge on those who ruined her father’s life as well as hers. She ends up in situations where people die at her beckoning, or by people she is affiliated with, but she has little remorse over that fact. I do not believe in going about that way. Yes, one can be upset about a tragic event that happened in their life, but getting revenge on someone who may have been the cause of that is never the right way about going about things. I felt when I heard Laertes give up the King’s doing her realized that the way he went about getting revenge on Hamlet was not worth it. I do not believe that Hamlet ever realized this until his last breath, when he realized that he too was poisoned by the blade. In the case about Laertes vs. Hamlet over who had a right to get revenge, I felt that neither one should have been so caught up in the situation. Their struggle for their honor and revenge for their fathers, ultimately led to their downfall in the end.

What Is A Hero?

What is a hero that we read, heard, or even watched about as children? While we were young children and we movies about the princess or damsel in distress and the hero was the strong, handsome prince who comes in to save the day. But what is a true hero? A hero in everyday life for us is a firefighter, police officer, a part of the military, or someone who just does a good deed at the right time. In Beowulf, Beowulf is the hero in the story. Now this story has been passed down through many generations, and has different variations, but one thing that remained constant was Beowulf defeated Grendel and Grendel's mother. Beowulf boasted about how he could best anything that came his way. To be a hero and to be immortal in Beowulf's time, one must boast about their accomplishments, and make sure they are talked about in generations to come.

Beowulf to me did not seem to fit the hero character I had always pictured. I know that a hero is not a handsome man (though it is an added plus) who comes in on a horse to wisk me away into the sunset. But a hero is also not one to boast about their accomplishments, instead they should be humble about it, and try to switch to a different topic. I did not respect Beowulf as a person or as a literary hero because he just seemed far too cocky. But I did remember that Beowulf is set in a different time where Beowulf was their ideal hero. It is difficult to think without a twenty-first century mind, and instead switch it to a medieval time set. As time changes the ideal hero also changes, as well as each culture has a different hero. For our time and place, a hero is an everyday person, while in another part of the world our everyday hero could the antagonist whereas what we might think of as an antagonist is their hero. Heroes vary with each passing day, but it's our idea of having someone to admire for their talents that we keep them close to our hearts.

Brutality In Prisons

"Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" has been the basis for our legal/prison system in the United States. However in The Power of One, a person may go to prison just for being in the wrong part of town because of racism. Many of the prisoners in the Barberton Prison were in there because of the power of racism ruling South Africa at the time. I do not understand why people must hate because someone else is different? The prison guards will punch/beat a prisoner until they draw blood. Then make the prisoner take responsibilitiy for this action, and the prisoner would have to clean up the mess. This happens to many prisoners in the novel and Peekay takes note on this brutality that this influences him for the remainder of the novel. Also the violence that drives Lieutenant Borman to murder Geel Piet, causes Peekay to fight for what is right, and defeat the wrongdoing in the prison.
In today's media, we are told about violence in prisons, when it is caught. Such as the death of Frank Valdez, who attempted to free his friend from Death Row in Florida. Valdez killed a Prison Guard, in the attempt freeing of his friend, however fate took a turn, and Valdez died "under suspicious circumstances." Nine guards were suspended on administrative leave (with pay), and pending the outcome of the investigation. Also, California state has had "the shooting deaths of thirty-nine inmates, the wounding of two-hundred more over the last ten years in the state's thirty-three prisons." and yet no attorney has ever prosectued any corrupt guards for police brutality. There was also a report of a prisoner who reportedly raped 'problem' prisoners in exchange for extra food and other perks, all under the direction of prison staff.
I am appalled by the brutality shown in prisons, not only around the world, but in the United States. I thought that we are all treated equal and that we all must be treated with respect. It is clear that this does not exist except in a perfect/Utopia society. I am upset that someone may think that they hold power of those who did wrong, but they have no right to treat them in a barbaric manner. I hope that newsreports can shed some light on the subject and maybe society will change for the greater good. But as of now all we can do is hope and pray that this will improve over the years.