Ida the Avenger

Ida the Avenger
Revenge is the return of a wrongful action upon somebody who has done something unjust. In the novel, Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, revenge drives the plot and reveals the true identities of the characters. The reader of the novel understands that revenge is not always necessarily bad, and in some cases it can be beneficial to certain characters. Ida takes justice for the murder of Hale into her own hands in the act of revenge against Pinkie.
Ida’s philosophy is a belief in right and wrong. She believes in ghosts and Ouija boards, rather than believing in heaven or hell. She does not concern herself about the repercussions of her actions in the afterlife. For Ida life is something extremely valuable; therefore, death is the end of everything. After the death of Hale, when the author mentions Ida’s belief of “an eye for an eye” (37), Ida is no longer portrayed as the careless free spirit she first appears, but as a seeker of revenge and as an enforcer of justice. Ida acts as a detective in order to find out more about Hale’s death. At first she feels it is very wrong that Hale was murdered and she vows to right this wrong. She questions Cubitt who is a member of the gang, and he accidently reveals some vital information about the murder scene, where they sell Brighton rock candy. Cubitt also excessively mentions “carving” people, which further makes Ida believe that Hale was murdered, due to the brutal nature of the gang. After Hale’s death, Ida starts to act as a demoralizer to the gang. Every time Ida talks to any one of the members, they feel insecure, and lose hope in the fact they their murder of Hale will go unnoticed.
For Ida, having the innocent suffer is something which goes against her morals and beliefs. This is shown when Ida says, “I don’t want the innocent to suffer” (121). Likewise, Rose is a very important character in Ida’s plot for revenge. Rose has a very weak personality and does not have much common sense. She is married to... [continues]

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