As a wee mischievous lad back in the day, I used to regularly get in
trouble for committing a variety of childhood crimes around the house,
such as broken glass or vases, stolen cookies from the cookie jar, all of
our cats found stuffed into a sealed plastic bin, etc. As I was never keen
to be found responsible whenever I was accused of causing such
mishaps, I would simply do my best to redirect the blame towards
someone (or something) else. A few of my favourites to
wrongfully lay blame on were my brother, the wind, a small and very precise earthquake, and
my ultimate favourite, my golden labrador Maximus, who I swore to my parents had the ability to grow
hands and commit the crimes I was accused of. Now why am I telling you this? Because what I did as a
young, guilty child is a pretty solid example of scapegoating.
Scapegoating is defined as the practice of singling out an individual or party for unmerited
negative treatment or blame as a scapegoat (or scapedog, in the case of me singling out
Maximus). This term comes from the Old Testament, where it's recorded in the book of Leviticus that the
Israelites would send a goat out into the wilderness as a sacrifice for their sins, symbolic of the goat
carrying away all of their sins with it. Another example of scapegoating (or scapepigging, in this case) was
when in 2009, in response to the H1N1 (or "swine flu") epidemic, the Egyptian government slaughtered
over 300, 000 pigs, which they illegitimately claimed were to blame to for the spreading of the virus in
their country.
In The Kite Runner, an example of scapegoating is when Amir blames Hassan for all of his life's
problems, so he frames Hassan by putting the money and watch under his mattress in order to have him
kicked out, while in reality Amir brought his problems upon himself by consequence of his own actions
concerning "that alleyway in the winter of 1975." Hassan, being the loyal and submissive lad that he is,
even accepts his role as a scapegoat (scapeboy?) and never bothers to put a stop to Amir's accusations,
doing what he thinks will bring Amir the greatest happiness.
In terms of discussion, what do you think would be different if Hassan didn't let Amir put the blame on
him? Does this act of scapegoating really bring Amir happiness? And can you think of any other examples
of scapegoating (whether they involve goats or not) in The Kite Runner?
trouble for committing a variety of childhood crimes around the house,
such as broken glass or vases, stolen cookies from the cookie jar, all of
our cats found stuffed into a sealed plastic bin, etc. As I was never keen
to be found responsible whenever I was accused of causing such
mishaps, I would simply do my best to redirect the blame towards
someone (or something) else. A few of my favourites to
wrongfully lay blame on were my brother, the wind, a small and very precise earthquake, and
my ultimate favourite, my golden labrador Maximus, who I swore to my parents had the ability to grow
hands and commit the crimes I was accused of. Now why am I telling you this? Because what I did as a
young, guilty child is a pretty solid example of scapegoating.
Scapegoating is defined as the practice of singling out an individual or party for unmerited
negative treatment or blame as a scapegoat (or scapedog, in the case of me singling out
Maximus). This term comes from the Old Testament, where it's recorded in the book of Leviticus that the
Israelites would send a goat out into the wilderness as a sacrifice for their sins, symbolic of the goat
carrying away all of their sins with it. Another example of scapegoating (or scapepigging, in this case) was
when in 2009, in response to the H1N1 (or "swine flu") epidemic, the Egyptian government slaughtered
over 300, 000 pigs, which they illegitimately claimed were to blame to for the spreading of the virus in
their country.
In The Kite Runner, an example of scapegoating is when Amir blames Hassan for all of his life's
problems, so he frames Hassan by putting the money and watch under his mattress in order to have him
kicked out, while in reality Amir brought his problems upon himself by consequence of his own actions
concerning "that alleyway in the winter of 1975." Hassan, being the loyal and submissive lad that he is,
even accepts his role as a scapegoat (scapeboy?) and never bothers to put a stop to Amir's accusations,
doing what he thinks will bring Amir the greatest happiness.
In terms of discussion, what do you think would be different if Hassan didn't let Amir put the blame on
him? Does this act of scapegoating really bring Amir happiness? And can you think of any other examples
of scapegoating (whether they involve goats or not) in The Kite Runner?