Student Question
What is the origin of the term "scapegoat"?
Quick answer:
The term "scapegoat" originates from a Jewish ritual described in Leviticus 16, where a goat, bearing the sins of the people, was sent into the wilderness to perish, symbolically removing sin from the community. This concept is explored in Ursula LeGuin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," where a child becomes the scapegoat, embodying the community's evils, leading to moral dilemmas for those who choose to leave Omelas.
A "scapegoat" was originally a goat driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement in Judaism. The idea was that the goat, having the sins of the people placed upon its back, would be sent out to perish, thus saving the people by its death. In Leviticus 16:6 the goat is described:
And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
In her short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas ," Ursula LeGuin takes this ancient rite and uses it to counter the pragmatism of Henry James that was popular at the time of her publishing the story. The miserable child is heaped with all the evil of the community and becomes the "scapegoat." And, while many members of the community accept this evil as necessary for the good...
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of all the others, some choose to walk away from this community. Still, their walking away from Omelas is morally ambiguous as the child yet remains.