Often sent out into the wild, the "scapegoat", as it is referred to the Book of Leviticus, is set to be rid the sins of the people who sent it out.
In modern day, the term is much more than just a religious symbol, as it can be applied to much more. "Scapegoating" is used to describe an individual or group that is blamed for the unfortunate events of a person, city, country, or continent. The individual or groups, are most often innocent of the crime they are being blamed for. Subsequently, there have been many historical events where "scapegoats" have been accused, a few examples would be back in 2009 when the "swine flu" pandemic broke out, and Hassan being Amir's scapegoat in Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner
In general, the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, sometimes known as "swine flu", broke out in April 2009, and approximately lasted just over one year. The first case of the flu was in The United States. The virus contained a combination of influenza virus genes never identified in humans or animals, the closest related gene was that of the North American swine-lineage H1N1 and the Eurasian lineage swine-origin. In other words, the genes of the flu were closely related to that of pigs. As you could have guessed the individuals to blame for this world issue were in fact not scapegoats but scapepigs.
In Egypt, after the flu broke out, pig farmers awoke to find that their land has been attacked by Sunni Muslims. The Muslims used their religious strictures as an excuse to blame the pigs and their farmers for spreading the "swine flu" all over the word. Eventually, the Egyptian government took responsibility and slaughtered the approximate 300,000 pig population. The sad truth is that in Egypt, 2009, there had been no case of "swine flu" outbreak and none since. Innocent pigs were blamed and slaughtered, all for nothing. Similar to the pigs, Hassan serves as an innocent victim to Amir's misfortunes in The Kite Runner.
Amir's selfish acts to use Hassan as a scapegoat ultimately lead to Hassan's death. Originally Amir is jealous that Baba, his father, is giving Hassan more affection than him. As a result Amir decides to bully Hassan, making fun of he literate skills and at one point pelts Hassan with many pomegranates. When Hassan gets beaten by Assef and friends, Amir stays back and does nothing. Amir see the look on Hassan's face and compares it to the sheep that he once saw understanding that it was time for sacrifice. Amir's jealousy reaches climax as he places his new watch and money under Hassan's mattress and blames Hassan for stealing. Hassan and his father, Ali, are driven out of the house and Amir never sees them again. Like the people sending out a scapegoat to carry their sins away, Amir does the same with his scapegoat, Hassan.
One of the big questions of scapegoating is, what does it reveal about humanity? The first thing that stands out is that we as human beings are quick to blame as long as the blame is not on us or the ones we love. It doesn't matter if the person being blamed is guilty or not, if the act is too harsh to admit too, unless you're an angel, you will definitely blame someone. I admit that I have blamed innocent people for stuff that I had done. For example, when I was four years old I accidentally broke my mothers lamp. Luckily, my brother was there when my mom ran in and I was able to place the blame on him. He wound up getting grounded for two weeks. I ended confessing to the incident years later just before I turned sixteen.
What do you believe scapegoating reveals about humanity?
Do you have an example of when you may have used a scapegoat?
(Leave your answers in you comment)
Thank you for your time! If you enjoyed this blog than check out my previous blog about Afghan Kite Fighting.
Where I got my information: Check them out!
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/cdcresponse.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat
The Kite Runner (novel) by: Khaled Hosseini
In modern day, the term is much more than just a religious symbol, as it can be applied to much more. "Scapegoating" is used to describe an individual or group that is blamed for the unfortunate events of a person, city, country, or continent. The individual or groups, are most often innocent of the crime they are being blamed for. Subsequently, there have been many historical events where "scapegoats" have been accused, a few examples would be back in 2009 when the "swine flu" pandemic broke out, and Hassan being Amir's scapegoat in Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner
In general, the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, sometimes known as "swine flu", broke out in April 2009, and approximately lasted just over one year. The first case of the flu was in The United States. The virus contained a combination of influenza virus genes never identified in humans or animals, the closest related gene was that of the North American swine-lineage H1N1 and the Eurasian lineage swine-origin. In other words, the genes of the flu were closely related to that of pigs. As you could have guessed the individuals to blame for this world issue were in fact not scapegoats but scapepigs.
In Egypt, after the flu broke out, pig farmers awoke to find that their land has been attacked by Sunni Muslims. The Muslims used their religious strictures as an excuse to blame the pigs and their farmers for spreading the "swine flu" all over the word. Eventually, the Egyptian government took responsibility and slaughtered the approximate 300,000 pig population. The sad truth is that in Egypt, 2009, there had been no case of "swine flu" outbreak and none since. Innocent pigs were blamed and slaughtered, all for nothing. Similar to the pigs, Hassan serves as an innocent victim to Amir's misfortunes in The Kite Runner.
Amir's selfish acts to use Hassan as a scapegoat ultimately lead to Hassan's death. Originally Amir is jealous that Baba, his father, is giving Hassan more affection than him. As a result Amir decides to bully Hassan, making fun of he literate skills and at one point pelts Hassan with many pomegranates. When Hassan gets beaten by Assef and friends, Amir stays back and does nothing. Amir see the look on Hassan's face and compares it to the sheep that he once saw understanding that it was time for sacrifice. Amir's jealousy reaches climax as he places his new watch and money under Hassan's mattress and blames Hassan for stealing. Hassan and his father, Ali, are driven out of the house and Amir never sees them again. Like the people sending out a scapegoat to carry their sins away, Amir does the same with his scapegoat, Hassan.
One of the big questions of scapegoating is, what does it reveal about humanity? The first thing that stands out is that we as human beings are quick to blame as long as the blame is not on us or the ones we love. It doesn't matter if the person being blamed is guilty or not, if the act is too harsh to admit too, unless you're an angel, you will definitely blame someone. I admit that I have blamed innocent people for stuff that I had done. For example, when I was four years old I accidentally broke my mothers lamp. Luckily, my brother was there when my mom ran in and I was able to place the blame on him. He wound up getting grounded for two weeks. I ended confessing to the incident years later just before I turned sixteen.
What do you believe scapegoating reveals about humanity?
Do you have an example of when you may have used a scapegoat?
(Leave your answers in you comment)
Thank you for your time! If you enjoyed this blog than check out my previous blog about Afghan Kite Fighting.
Where I got my information: Check them out!
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/cdcresponse.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat
The Kite Runner (novel) by: Khaled Hosseini