Pound of flesh Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

Let's say that you, circa your kindergarten days, make a deal with your younger brother. If the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, he has to stick his finger in a light socket. He's fine with the deal because, hey, the Chicago Cubs could never, ever win the World Series. They're cursed after all.

And you're okay with the potentially devastating results, since he recently put glue in your macaroni and cheese. It's payback time.

Then somebody in the Windy City sells his soul to the devil, and, before you know it, your little brother is facing a pretty lively light-socket. He insists that you let him off easy because it's the merciful thing to do, but you counter that the two of you had a bargain, and you want justice.

Interesting word, justice. What does it mean, exactly? Justice according to the law? What if there were a law saying, for example, that white men were allowed to own black men? Or that a man can beat his wife, who, incidentally, isn't allowed to vote. Since those laws actually existed in United States history, does that mean they were just?

That's a big fat NOPE. "Justice" is clearly tied to something other than the law.

Perhaps it's based in religion? Are we talking about divine law? Ahem, the Crusades, ahem.

So there's obviously something else going on in our heads when we think about justice. Something like ethics or morality. But what do you do when justice according to the law is not the same as justice according to religion, which is not the same as justice according to morals or human decency?

That's a head scratcher. Our point is, "justice" is not a word you can throw around like "glue" or "light socket." And yet "justice" has been used to justify a slew of actions—like cutting a pound of flesh from a man's chest.

Shylock is using the word justice to try to cut our a pound of flesh from Antonio's body. So what this quote is really asking us to think about is justice. Is it okay to be vindictive because you can be?