Hugh Nibley
"Here are two victories in a row; the Nephites were doing all right...They decided they were unbeatable because of this great thing, and revenge becomes the motive. Verse 9: ’And now, because of this great thing…they began to boast in their own strength, and began to swear before the heavens that they would avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren who had been slain by their enemies.’ Here is the standard scenario of the Western, of course. The bad guys do bad things for the first half [of the movie], and the good guys get revenge for the second half. And we love that revenge—catching up with them and shooting them or blowing them up, etc. That revenge is the main scene…John Wayne or someone is the good guy who doesn’t want war or anything like that. Then they [the bad guys] do something very, very bad. Then the thing we all sit on the edge of our seats and relish is the revenge that follows, because innocent people have suffered, etc…This is the theme of countless police stories, detective stories, and Westerns. Mr. Good Guy goes and cleans up the bad guy, but only after he’s been driven to the extreme. He has to avenge the blood of his brethren.
“Well, how about this noble motive of avenging the blood of your brethren-the private eye plot, the police officer whose pal gets shot, etc.? Is not avenging the blood of your brethren an ideal? Isn’t it an obligation?…Finally they’re going to settle the Lamanite question once and for all with a big battle, because they’ve got them on the run now. But they shouldn’t have done that.” (Teachings From the Book of Mormon, Lecture 105, p. 201)