The Revenge Component and Suicide’s Many Stages.

Julia McGrath

EL 2218-002: The Short Story

Professor Philius

5 May 2020

Research Paper

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Suicide is a common issue, but most people do not know what drives people to commit the action. Most people would assume that suicide relates the most with mental illness, but that is not always the case. When it comes to arguing if the person that committed suicide had a mental illness, most of the time, anything can drive people over the edge. Sometimes, revenge leads to suicide. Revenge relates to suicide because self-harm, social control, and the value of culture can lead someone to avenge. In this argumentative paper, the argument will be that those struggling with self-harm, social control, and avenging an unjust society, thoroughly elaborate on the decisions toward someone ending their life.

Revenge fits social control because social control is the response used toward unusual and eccentric behavior. Jason Manning's article explains how social control and a suicide-revenge connect. Manning states, "Suicidal behavior is social control of the self whenever it responds to the self's deviance" (211). Suicidal behavior becomes social when the participant has full control over their behavior. The action is significant because it shows that others have no say in what the suicidal person does. Revenge is crucial when it comes to social control because the perpetrator chooses their fate. The choice gives the sufferer power over their behavior rather than others having power over them.

Self-destruction is a form of suicide. Manning says, "Under Certain Conditions, it may even take self-destruction. In some cases, suicide is a kind of terminal withdrawal, sociologically similar to divorce and other forms of avoidance. In others, it is an act of aggression, inflicting punishment on an offender... In all these cases, suicide is social control" (224). Self-destruction fits social control because it gives the perpetrator a reason to get revenge on society, even if it means inflicting pain on oneself. The idea fits revenge because "suicide is more likely to express grievances" (215) among peers. People feel that they could have done something, or that they had a fault in action. Sometimes, suicide is a way for the perpetrator to gain control not only over what happens to them but control over other people. Self-destruction becomes a form of revenge because the perpetrator feels hurt, so in order to release the anger, they use unhealthy tactics that hurt themselves and other people.

When it comes to culture, some people and cultures view suicide as a means for change. María Cátedra explains suicide and its role in a culture. Her article discusses how suicide is sometimes necessary for the basic needs of social life. Cátedra's argument proves that suicide is about how life is structured, and the social limitations followed: "In some ways, suicide is a revolutionary tool because it reflects negatively on the state, religion, and health system. It undermines the power of the social system, emphasizing the rights of the individual over those of the larger society" (48). Cátedra's point is that suicide is a way for people to overthrow the oppression and injustice faced in social life, and avenge their human rights. Culture relates to revenge because when people hurt themselves because of cultural oppression, the deed shows how unjust the system is, which starts a movement for change.

People view suicide as a negative outlet, thus consider suicide as "isolation," even though there are myriads of reasons that people commit suicide. Cátedra explains the difference between the perspectives of natural and forceful death: "The two kinds of death provide different perspectives... [However,] frequently one or another way of dying is examined in isolation, so that the community studied seems excessively dark and negative, permeated by violence and aggression, or unnaturally idyllic and happy, bound by solidarity and mutual aid" (69). What Cátedra is implying is that death should not have different reactions based on its cause because the perpetrator is not always a victim of death. The revenge is that the person commits suicide to not only fight the system but to remove themselves from being unhappy in the construction of an unfavorable system.

Self-harm is another factor in committing suicide. The majority of the time, those that inflict pain or injury onto themselves turn to suicide. Emma Nielsen and Ellen Townsend's research show the influences of self-harm and how "perceived dangerousness," "personal responsibility beliefs," and "emotional responses" (204) lead to self-harm. These three things lead to self-harm because they are ways of coping with experiences that the perpetrator deems as challenging to handle mentally. In order to get rid of the issues, the person relies on their emotions and harms themselves.

Most self-harm is releasing anger. Nielsen and Townsend state, "As hypothesized, increased attributions of blame decreased levels of pity...and increased anger" (209). Self-harm stems from anger rather than self-pity. Moreover, "While no evidence was found for a direct effect of either controllability of cause or familiarity (personal or professional) on sympathetic or angry responding, personal responsibility beliefs (blame) had both a direct effect on these emotions and mediated the relationship between controllability and affect" (213). It seems that more developed countries are at a higher risk for suicide. The research is astonishing because those who do not have money or do not live in a developed country would think that those that are richer are happier. Money becomes revenge because more luxurious does not mean happier; however, rather than making the best of what a person has, they compare what they have to others. Revenge is more subconscious to the person's needs because they cannot live without the basics.

Self-harm is a punishment for people who cannot release their shame towards an unfixable situation. When it comes to chronic illnesses, Chien, Lai, Chung, et al. confirm that those suffering from chronic illnesses have higher risks of suicide because "such patients may be prone to end their lives because of unbearable pain and a sense of humiliation stemming from having to constantly rely on others" (29). Some people are in so much pain that they cannot deal with the pain while others do not want to rely on other people. All of these things go into society because people hate relying on other people, and when dealing with something difficult, they become shameful and pity themselves. When something is difficult, people quit. The struggle becomes revenge because the sufferer is punishing themselves.

Self-control, self-destruction, society, and culture all relate to suicide because suicide has a purpose. The people that commit the act have a reason for killing themselves; some have unusual behavior and want to avenge their power and control. Those that suffer from misconduct usually end their lives to control fate; some hate the system and do not want to live a life where they are sick and suffering all the time.

Some people wish not to suffer and would rather be at peace. Outsiders (people who do not understand the social construct of suicide) assume that the person was unhappy with their life, which is a fallacious argument. Most of the time, suicide is a tactic to escape hardships; this, however, does not mean the person is unhappy.

Suicide is a common issue, but most people do not know what drives people to commit the action. Anything can drive people over the edge, which is why not all people that commit suicide are mentally ill. In this argumentative paper, it has been proven that self-harm, leaving a corrupt society, manipulation, and guilt in society lead to suicide. These four things relate to revenge because people who self-harm punish themselves, those leaving society to have control over what they believe, manipulators obtain control, and the sick remove unbearable pain. Most people would think that those who commit suicide are mentally ill, but actions have many explanations. Self-slaughter has the purpose of proving a point or of ending suffering.

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Works Cited

Cátedra, Maria. "When It Is Worth the Trouble to Die: The Cultural Valuation of Suicide." Culture, Suicide, and the Human Condition, edited by Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, Miira Tuominen, 2014, pp. 46-73, Berghahn Books, JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qck62.7.

Chien, Wu-Chien, Chuny, Chi-Hsiang, Lai, Ching-Huang et al. "A Nation-Wide Evidence-Based Data Analysis of Repeated Suicide Attempts." Crisis, vol. 34 no. 1, 2013, pp. 22-31, Hogrefe Publishing, PSYCNET.APA.ORG. DOI: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000157.

Manning, Jason. "Suicide as Social Control." Sociological Forum, vol. 27, no. 1, March 2012, pp. 207-227, Wiley, JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41330920.

Nielsen, Emma and Ellen Townsend. "Public Perceptions of Self-Harm—A Test of an Attribution Model of Public Discrimination." Stigma and Health, vol. 3, no. 3, 2018, pp. 204–218, University of Nottingham, PSYCNET.APA.ORG. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/sah0000090.