The Lottery

2. What is a scapegoat? Who is the scapegoat in the story? What other examples of scapegoating can you recall?

A scapegoat is a person or a group of people that is often persecuted because they are blamed for something they did not do. Often times, they are a cover up for the bad actions of other people. In this story, Tessie, whose name is drawn from the box is ultimately the scapegoat. Throughout history, some examples of scapegoats include Nero blaming the Christians for the fire in Rome in the early 100s, and also the Jewish people which led to the holocaust during World War II. Like the Jews during the holocaust, Tessie is nothing but an innocent bystander who is tortured because she is marked by a slip of paper. One moment, she was a villager like the rest of them, and friends to many of them, but instantly those people turn on her. It truly shows the deadliness of blind traditions in which the villagers participated in.