Pandora Is A Scapegoat

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A scapegoat is a person blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others. Throughout the world, people have created various scapegoats to suit their needs. For example, the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box. It is said that the world was once free of evil, harmful things, and it was all contained in a box. One day, a woman, Pandora, was overcome with curiosity and opened up the box. She released everything destructive and malevolent into the beautiful earth. Hence the reason Pandora is a scapegoat, she is blamed for all the bad, corrupt things in the world for opening that box. Another example is Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s wife. John Lennon was part of an extremely popular, even legendary band called The Beatles. At the end of their career…show more content…
Most of the time, these people will spread rumors and make false accusations against their scapegoat. Rumors can be spread around communities, schools, and neighborhoods. For example, Miss Stephanie Crawford, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is Maycomb County’s source for all the new gossip. She is the main person in her community that spreads rumors and makes false accusations. Miss Stephanie tends to especially show a disliking towards Arthur “Boo” Radley, a shut-in. She tends to make various accusations to different people, specifically towards Boo. Miss Stephanie confidently makes stories and assumptions about Arthur Radley and puts him down often. “Miss Stephanie Crawford said she woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her … said his head was like a skull lookin’ at her” (Lee 13). Most people who use scapegoats do it for themselves. It gives them a higher self esteem to put someone else down, and to make it seem like they are superior. They get a sense of power and importance when they tell others information, even if it’s false, that makes them look…show more content…
Maybe problems occurred and the negative attention is being focused on a certain person, and then they might use a scapegoat to try and escape the the tension and blame. Most people don’t want to face what they did wrong, so they go to scapegoats to relieve their pressure. Jeffrey Sherman of the University of California, Davis, who co-wrote the study, Why We Kick Others When We’re Down, says, "This is one of the oldest accounts of why people stereotype and have prejudice: It makes us feel better about ourselves, when we feel bad about ourselves, we can denigrate other people, and that makes us feel better about ourselves." Frequently, they use scapegoats as an aggression outlet. A person could bash the scapegoat down repeatedly because they know that the scapegoat cannot fight back, resembling a bully. They blame someone else who is helpless, making it easier for them to constantly bring the said scapegoat down. A vast majority of the people who use scapegoats are aggressive, scared, or have a low self esteem. Aggressive people relieve their anger, therefore they go to scapegoats because scapegoats cannot fight back. Some people use scapegoats to escape fear. Lastly, people use scapegoats because they may have low self-esteem. They may need to feel better about themselves because of certain problems that can occur. Societies use scapegoats for a variety of reasons, but it all comes down to the manner in which

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