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Death Note Discussion


Ivona

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Yeah like @Wedgy said, as it when he was using the Death Note to render "justice"?

Because if so... I agree with his view on justice. Although this is the point of the story of course. That justice for you may not be justice for somebody else.

It's basically, how do you think criminals should be dealt with?

A) Harshly. Put them to death immediately. They are no longer humans but animals. (Light's view on justice)

B) Proper proceedings. Let the "system" handle them. Give them a fair trial and so on.

Edited by Ryan Dave Jimenez
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I disagree with Light's idea of justice and how criminals should be treated. I think that criminals should be rehabilitated when possible. The only time that I see something like the death penalty suitable is if the criminal can't change, either if they don't make any effort to or they mentally can't. Because of this, is see Light's method as too harsh. While it could be argued that it works at a deterrence, it's too severe.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not sympathising with criminals. It's just that the instant death penalty Light gives them is too severe.

If you were referring to Light's fate at the end of the series, 

Spoiler

then I think it was an appropriate end to the series. He is technically a criminal, and so by his own logic, should die. Many of the criminals he killed probably thought that they we also in the right, and doing the world a favour just like he did.

 

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Personally I never really understood why Light just killed every criminal. I believe that capital punishment is only applicable in certain cases, for instance intentional murder, it should'nt be used to kill criminals like thieves. To me it would make more sense if Light killed criminals that are repeated offenders of assault, human trafficking or rapists.

For some reason criminals like rapists, are allowed to go back to society after spending time in jail. To me this is pretty messed up because the rapist have runined the victims lives, and in some cases lead to them commiting suicide. All the punishment the rapist gets is to be thrown in jail, where they will have a roof above their head, and get fed. This a luxury in numerous poor countries. After all that, they still might be allowed back into society, so Light using his death note to kill off these types of criminals is justifiable.

Edited by ⭐  ΉᎥຮokส💧
Grammar
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That's a tough one. Since I do not want to post paragraphs after paragraphs here is a concise summary which might oversimplify things 😂  

Light's reasoning was that criminals should be put to death to create a perfect world, probably by stopping the criminals from committing further crimes and as a warning sign to others. This seems like what philosophers might call a 'utilitarian view', where your main aim is to maximize happiness in the maximum amount of persons. You might think this is a decent view, but I can assure you that no one here would subscribe to it fully. Some of the issues with it also apply to Light.

One thing is that it is difficult to say what effects which sort of punishment will have. Pardoning a murderer might lead him to teach anti-violence courses and therefore effectively stop more murders than if he had been put to death. There being 7 billion people he would have to evaluate every single case carefully which is just impractical. So Light would have to work on a basis where he makes an educated guess on what the best action probably is.
Other problems are things like false accusations where innocent people might be put to death, or generally that such an approach would definitely lead to killing people who cannot be guilty at all.
Another big issue is where Light would get the right to punish others. Just because he is powerful does not mean that he is justified in handing out punishment.

So yeah, I think his view was quite problematic. You can see why he would think that, but if you consider it in more detail I think it is quite unconvincing.

Edited by Illusion of Terra
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  • 2 weeks later...

His view is quite a troubling one. Where I agree with some of his views his others are quite flawed. He liked to see himself as a kind of god who holds all the power in the world. However if he truly was a "god" he would be able to tell between false accusations and if the person actually committed the crime. He also then started talking about getting rid of those who failed to contribute to society (meaning having a job, etc). He never actually got that far. In the end he, like most bad guys become so consumed with power they let it go to their head and start making mistakes that ultimately caused their downfall. 

 

Honestly though when I first started watching the series I pretty much knew what Light's outcome would be and if I stand correct most people did too (and the fact that Ryuk constantly talked about being the one to do it unless he died by having a change of heart which we all knew he definitely would not, lol).

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I understood where Light was coming from, but his method of punishment was too extreme. He really believed it was absolute judgment and if anyone questioned it, they were killed on the spot. 

He certainly didn't hesitate to kill anyone who suspected him of being Kira. 

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