Examples Of Scapegoat In Frankenstein

Firstly, a scapegoat is defined as “One who is blamed or punished for the sins of others” (OED). In biblical scripture, the goat symbolises and stands for evil, with lambs being sacrificial beasts (Kearney 28). Rene Girard: “any community that has fallen prey to violence or has been stricken by some overwhelming catastrophe hurls itself blindly into the search for a scapegoat” (qtd in Sørensen 19). Additionally, in agreement with Sørensen, there is a rationale behind an individual making someone or something a scapegoat, which the writer views as a defence mechanism: “a safety valve used to rid our mind of the anxieties that can be eliminated with the destruction of the monster” (Sørensen 19-20). This idea that these scholars refer to is highly

Therefore, what makes an individual a scapegoat, whether they are a human, a monster or both is their ‘Otherness’ or their inability to fit in fundamentally. For example, in relation to Frankenstein, it is important to note that the creature uses Justine, Frankenstein’s servant as a scapegoat to cover up the fact that he murdered Frankenstein’s brother, William. He does so by placing a photograph that William was carrying in her pocket. This works in the creature’s advantage as Justine falsely admits to committing the crime because she fears sin. “I did confess; but I confessed a lie. I confesses, that I might obtain absolution; but now that falsehood lies heavier at my heart that all my other sins. The God of heaven forgive me!” (Shelley 66). Justine also acts as Frankenstein’s scapegoat. This is so as he knows that she did not murder his brother. However, this works in his favour as it covers Frankenstein’s secret that he created the creature. In a sense, it could be argued that the creature acts as Frankenstein’s scapegoat. Though the creature committed evil crimes, he is doing so to gain the attention of his creator. Frankenstein lacks the authority to take responsibility for his creature and his actions. Therefore, he lets the creature be his scapegoat. In relation to The Monk, Ambrosio demonstrates a duality within his own self. This is so as he

As it has been established by Mighall, Jonathan’s sexual and perverse writings of his experience in Dracula’s castle are to compensate for and explain the high level of anxiety as well as to contain it one place: “eroticizes the monstrous to contain it or explain it? Writing up his accounts of how he thinks monsters should be represented. He dwells on the sexual, transforming the supernatural into ‘an erotic spectacle’” (Mighall 228-9). Dracula represents larger political and social issues such as the fear and anxiety of reverse colonialism as well as the collapse of the British Empire. He further symbolises the collapse of patriarchal society with the New Woman idea. Count Dracula serves “as a reminder to Britain of the undesirable “diversity” of Eastern nations” (Gelder 11). Stoker presents Britain’s view on the foreign and unknown through Jonathan Harker’s perspective. At the beginning of the text, he notes in his journal: “It seems to me that the further east you go to the more unpunctual are the trains. What ought they to be in China?” (Stoker 2). However, it could be argued that Dracula views the modern world as monstrous and perverse. This is evident as Van Helsing and his group are trying to destroy his existence with the help of new technologies. Therefore, technology is monstrous as it is taking over the person as well as outsmarts