(419 words) Why is revenge destroying the soul? The answer to this question is not easy to find. I think that a man obsessed with revenge on the offender runs the risk of losing himself. His whole life will pass by: he will only reflect on which plan of vengeance will be the best, and constantly seek meetings with those who insulted him. This means that his resentment will not pass, but will burn him from the inside all this time, until the soul turns into ashes. Arguments confirming my point of view can be found in classical works.
The hero of Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”, Andrei Bolkonsky, lost his beloved: Natasha Rostova was too frivolous and chose Anatoly Kuragin. The cheated bridegroom wanted to get even with the offender. Revenge overshadowed the whole world in his eyes: he was estranged from his family, ceased to find pleasure in communication with his son and sister. During the war, he tried to find out where Kuragin was located in order to kill him. Nothing seemed more important to Andrei Bolkonsky, he thought about the insult inflicted even under bullets. Pain and disappointment made him a reserved and desperate man who does not value himself and, as we will learn later, will find his death in this battle. Of course, he nevertheless met Kuragin in the hospital: a part of his leg was amputated to a handsome man and a dandy, and he cried in pain. The prince no longer wanted to take revenge on his opponent, because he already got what he deserved. However, Andrei will no longer be the same; his soul will never get rid of the burns inflicted by revenge. Therefore, the author allows the hero to die: for him there is no longer happiness in her.
The heroine of the work of Maxim Gorky's “At the Bottom”, Vasilisa takes revenge on Vaska for falling in love with her younger sister. The heroine constantly beats Natasha, taking out her anger on her, aggressively and ruthlessly treats all other guests. Revenge gradually poisons her more and more, and, having parted with Vaska Ashes, the woman offers him to kill her husband. The soul of this heroine is destroyed before our eyes: from domestic violence, she goes on to the idea of murder. The thief refuses, but once, getting involved in a fight, strikes too much Vasilisa’s husband, Mikhail Kostylev. He is dying. The widow immediately declares: “Vaska killed! Darling - I saw! ". Revenge destroys the soul of the heroine, she no longer thinks about the feelings and even the lives of loved ones. Such an attitude to the world leads a woman straight to prison, and the author puts her there for a reason. Gorky shows that a person whose soul is burnt by revenge is not capable of a normal life.
Thus, a person who is obsessed with the idea of revenge loses himself and the ability to be happy, so his soul is destroyed. Bright thoughts do not occur to him, he cannot set lofty goals, his whole life becomes only an instrument of vengeance. This is a truly terrible phenomenon, which becomes the most tragic consequence of revenge.
