Deadly Ping Pong

When it comes to Njal a very important theme that one can see is vengeance. Although it is not as clear in the men with women it is a completely different story. When Gunnar won the Law suit in the very first chapters of the story the other men didn’t really want any revenge for what had happened but rather left Gunnar alone. Later on when he married it is his wife that begins all the trouble. Although this is in some way a sexist remark (for apparently only women bring evil)the main idea can be seen. Revenge started with a wood and it ended in death after death. I don’t think that for them these deaths were as bad for those that died were only slaves and barely treated humanely. Yet the problem remains that after that first death because of the wood more and more started to die. Njal and Gunnar, although they had their friendship put to test they remained together and tried by all means to stop their wives. Njal didn’t make it so apparent because he probably knew it wouldn’t work.

I decided to make it with an allusion to the game ping pong. It is a game on a small table which apparently which can be seen in Njal’s Saga. All that huge fight and all those lives lost because of wood. The ball is death and eventually all have to feel its burden but the players (in this case the two wives) allowed themselves to be consumed by the game and the only thing they cared about was passing the ball to the other side as quickly as possible. They didn’t care about the friendship between their husbands all that mattered was revenge. It is sad to see that it is possible for people to allow themselves to be consumed by all this hate and desire to do evil.

Finally, revenge affects us all that surround those who decide to play the game as passionately as they did. If such a thing is allowed to continue even the most pure and good can allow themselves to be dragged in this game. “The news reached the Althing; Njal had it told to him three times and then said, “More men than I expected have now become killers.” (p.67) I believe that this shows us the ability that all men posses to do evil as well as good. No matter how pure a person is they can still kill. Although most of the times it requires a very strong force to make someone reach this extreme, the desire for Vengeance has proven to be strong enough to bend almost any will.

Revenge exists today in more subtle ways or at least more hidden from our subconscious so that we can justify all which we do wrong. Some justice systems can approach Vengance more than actual justice and many of our actions are linked to this. We are allowed to feel the temptation that comes from the desire of revenge but we shouldn’t let it consume us. Otherwise we might end up like Gunnar’s and Njal’s wives fighting constantly over no reason but to keep fighting and struggling to survive in a situation where there is no good or evil. Where there is only darkness that will one day be illuminated by a greater purpose that will leave these little fights behind.