Week 5 Blog Prompt

By the end of the trial scene, do you think true justice and mercy was achieved? Reflect and write on the following questions:

1. Is there true justice? Why?

2. Is there true mercy, as expounded by Portia? Why?

3. Justice and Law can be manipulated by people in power. Comment on this with reference to the text and other real-life cases and examples.

1. If justice was ever achieved in the novel, it would be only to the benefit of the Christians. Justice is indeed a grey area and is subjective to human emotions and other factors and the perception of it varies from one person to another in different circumstances. To the Christians, Shylock, a Jewish, has always been deemed as inferior and his vindictive act on the extraction of a pound of flesh from Antonio has outraged the former. In the eyes of the Christian, justice will only be achieved when Shylock's belligerence has been subdued and when he duly receives his punishment for harming a Christian's life. Ultimately, there was justice for the Christians but not for its opponent which was mercilessly crushed. True justice, which is also moral rightness, should be held in the light whether it satisfies moral, religious ethics of different matters and circumstances. In light of this, the perpetrators and victims should be identified clearly.In the context of Merchant of Venice, it should be noted that the Christians are actually the perpetrators.Justice, used to judge the right and wrong, would may have never been involved without the misdoings of the Christians. In fact, during the Elizabethean era, Jews have always been treated as outcasts in Europe due to the conflicts of Judaism with Christianity. Shylock has likewise been one of the victims of this virulent discrimination of Jews, and according to him, he has been mistreated at the hands of Christians. This was largely due to the outnumbering of Christians over the Jews,and the hatred between the two sects has been everlasting. Such humiliation against others' beliefs and religion is indeed intolerable and morally unjust and in this case ,justice should be fending for the grievances of Shylock. Instead, it was awarded wrongly and unjustly. The true justice he sought from the lawful bond was denied instead. Thus, we can see that true justice does not always prevail.

2. I do not think so. The punishment meted out on Shylock was not totally mercy, as it superficially seemed to be.  Again, mercy can also be looked upon in different perspectives.  To the Christians, mercy would refer to the sparing of Shylock's life and letting him undergo salvation, which they did by only confiscating half of his fortunes and forcibly converting him to Christianity. However, the state Shylock had been forced into would not be considered by him as merciful. Even though his life has been spared, he has been deprived of his religion beliefs and also half of his fortunes. This is more of a torment than liberation for his life. Such type of mercy would only prolong his agony and sufferings, especially mentally, in the living world. Revenge is actually masked in the light of mercy here.Other examples of mercy shown in this case would be from Portia, who initially expounded it  and even preached it from Shylock. She also offered various opportunities such as by offering money to Shylock  for his mercy towards Antonio. When Shylock rejects all these offers and insists on his belligerence and vindictiveness, he was finally ruthlessly pressed down by Portia. Portia can be said to have offered mercy to Shylock by giving him chances to escape the imminent punitory. Nevertheless, she uses mercy as a tool to trap Shylock in a deadlock later on. Thus, the various examples of mercy shown in this trial is rather inconclusive and ambiguous to show that they are true, or in other words, whether they destroy or benefit Shylock. 

3. This statement is absolutely true, and is prevalent worldwide. In this mercenary world of ours, where money and interests are the guiding principles for everything. Even law and justice, which were regarded to be priceless and sacred, had also become measurable by money. Consequently, law and justice could be altered and manipulated by those who are rich and in power. Powerful figures can exert their influence on others to do so. In Merchant of Venice, the Christians, who were evidently the stronger side, could easily manipulate the Venetian laws to their interest. Even Portia, a woman, can be disguised as a lawyer and dictates the rules with her position against Shylock. Such phenomenon lasts till now. Bribes can easily be issued by the powerful figures to law administrators to play the law into the former hands. Coupled with the debased, corrupted morals of man and his avarice in today's world, this has emerged as a serious problem. The incidences of such skullduggery is in fact astronomical. For example, they thrive in the societies of developing countries in Africa and Asia even in China and India. The recent Dominic Strauss-Kahn sex scandal has also highlighted this, with him alleged to have been involved in bribery to get scot-free. Kim Jong-ll, the North Korean dictator, has also established the laws in the country by himself , which are subjected to change anytime from his order. This is to protect his totalitarian rule to his own interest. All these has significantly diluted the meanings of these two words.