He who doesn’t seek revenge, sets nothing to rights

“He who doesn’t seek revenge, sets nothing to rights” is an old adage that Karsten Sundelin invokes as a personal argument for vengeance. In the thought that follows, he asks why people no longer live by it and why the authorities should be responsible for avenging victims. The expression makes revenge sound not merely permissible but necessary to set matters right, exposing the anger beneath Karsten’s appeal to justice.

The Adage as an Argument

Karsten’s thought develops through a series of questions. He objects that criminals have too many rights and are still owed respect and understanding, then asks whether their unlawful actions should strip them of those protections. In his reasoning, the usual distinction between lawful punishment and personal vengeance begins to collapse: if official justice does not answer wrongdoing as he believes it should, revenge appears to him as the corrective alternative.

The Exchange with Lily

The thought follows a conversation with Lily Sundelin about the person responsible for the troubling events. Lily suggests that something terrible must have happened in that person’s life; Karsten counters that something happens in everyone’s life. His maxim sharpens that disagreement. Where Lily allows for an individual history that might help explain harmful acts, Karsten refuses to let such an explanation excuse them, turning attention instead to what he sees as an inadequate response to wrongdoing.

Narrative Significance

The expression is presented as Karsten’s thought, not as a rule the narrative endorses. Its familiar, proverbial form lends authority to his position, while his questions reveal how much resentment and distrust it carries. As he writes in a puzzle and thinks of revenge as a means of setting things right, the passage exposes the moral pressure building in him: he wants accountability, but his argument risks making retaliation indistinguishable from justice.