“The Scapegoat Archetype” by Roger De Verteuil: Summary and Critique

1. The Paradox of the Modern Age

• Despite scientific and social advancements, modern society continues to rely on scapegoating, highlighting deep-rooted human instincts.
• De Verteuil states that “the age of maximum enlightenment” is also “the age of maximum peril” as society still identifies “a human enemy” (p. 209).

2. The Scapegoat as a Primordial Archetype

• The scapegoat functions as a collective psychological construct rooted in the unconscious, as described in Jungian theory.
• Jung defines the primordial image as “an inherited organisation of psychic energy,” which gives “apprehension of the given situation” and provides meaning beyond instinct (p. 210).

3. Biblical and Historical Origins of the Scapegoat

• The concept of the scapegoat appears in the Old Testament, particularly in the ritual described in Leviticus 16:5-22, where a goat symbolically carries the sins of the people into the desert.
• The scapegoat ritual predates other sacrificial customs and may indicate an earlier form of “sacrificial behavior” (p. 209).

4. The Role of Sacrifice in Society

• Human societies originally used human sacrifice but later transitioned to animal substitutes, as seen in the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac (p. 210).
• The idea that “man is still a wolf to man” suggests that the scapegoat serves as a survival mechanism, channeling collective aggression toward an external victim rather than internal destruction (p. 211).

5. The Scapegoat and the Angry God

• The image of an “angry god” demanding sacrifice is a projection of early human survival instincts, where divine wrath was a reflection of mankind’s own savagery (p. 212).
• The biblical sacrifice of two goats—one to Yahweh and one to Azazel—illustrates the tension between divine mercy and wrath, showing the incomplete transition from primitive deities to a monotheistic God (p. 213).

6. The Scapegoat in Criminal Justice

• Societies have historically used criminals as scapegoats to maintain social order.
• In ancient Israel, blasphemers were executed in a manner resembling the scapegoat ritual: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp… let the whole community stone him” (Leviticus 24:14-16, p. 214).
• In 19th-century England, even children were publicly hanged for petty crimes, reinforcing society’s dependence on scapegoats (p. 215).

7. Political and Racial Scapegoating

• Scapegoating extends beyond criminal justice to racial and political persecution.
• The Holocaust and apartheid South Africa are cited as modern manifestations of this phenomenon (p. 216).
• De Verteuil warns against condemning past societies while failing to recognize that scapegoating persists today (p. 217).

8. The Scapegoat in Judaeo-Christian History

• Christianity transformed the scapegoat into a figure of redemption, with Christ as the ultimate scapegoat.
• However, medieval Christianity reverted to scapegoating, condemning “the souls of the damned” and fostering an obsession with sin and damnation (p. 219).
• The Middle Ages saw the re-emergence of Satan as a scapegoat, particularly in witch hunts and the persecution of heretics (p. 220).

9. The Scapegoat in Mental Illness

• Psychological scapegoating occurs in individuals diagnosed with mental illness, who are often alienated rather than helped.
• The mentally ill, like traditional scapegoats, “invite rejection” because they unconsciously expose the hidden tensions of society (p. 221).
• Families may reinforce scapegoating dynamics, as seen in a mother’s statement: “If my daughter and I have to be the sufferers, let it be so” (p. 222).

10. The Need to Transcend the Scapegoat Archetype

• De Verteuil argues that modern societies must move beyond the need for scapegoats, as this mechanism is an outdated and dangerous form of social cohesion.
• The persistence of scapegoating in a “great society” is a sign of moral and psychological regression (p. 223).
• He concludes that “the scapegoat is an anachronism that the human race has outgrown” and that recognizing this is vital for societal progress (p. 224).

1. Archetypal Criticism (Carl Jung)

• De Verteuil’s concept of the scapegoat as a primordial image aligns with Jungian archetypal criticism, which explores recurring symbols and narratives in literature.
• “The phenomenon of the scapegoat, or rather of the primordial image in the human unconscious that we have identified as the ‘scapegoat archetype'” (p. 209).
• The scapegoat functions as a collective archetype that influences literature and mythology, appearing in various forms, such as Christ in Christianity or Oedipus in Greek tragedy.

2. Mythological Criticism (Northrop Frye)

• The study supports Frye’s theory of mythic structures, particularly in how literature repeatedly draws from the scapegoat motif.
• “Biblical scholars agree that the scapegoat ritual has a more archaic character than the other sacrificial rites associated with it” (p. 209).
• Mythic structures of sacrificial figures—such as in King Lear and The Crucible—demonstrate how literature continually reinterprets the scapegoat narrative.

3. Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism (Freud & Lacan)

• The text applies psychoanalytic theory to literature, arguing that the scapegoat archetype satisfies an unconscious need for externalizing guilt.
• “The primordial image is to be found in the deepest layers of the human unconscious, the ‘collective’ as distinct from the ‘personal’ unconscious” (p. 215).
• Literature often reveals societal projections of guilt and fear onto scapegoat figures, such as Frankenstein’s creature or Kafka’s The Trial.

4. Structuralism (Claude Lévi-Strauss)

• De Verteuil’s work aligns with structuralist analysis by showing how the scapegoat archetype operates as a binary opposition in myth and literature (good vs. evil, divine vs. cursed).
• “Two goats, one, chosen by lot, is blessed, the other cursed; one is purified, ‘made holy,’ and calls forth the image of a merciful God, the other is abandoned, unforgiven” (p. 213).
• This duality can be seen in literature, such as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Milton’s Paradise Lost.

5. Postcolonial Theory (Edward Said, Frantz Fanon)

• The text contributes to postcolonial criticism by demonstrating how scapegoating is used to justify racial and political oppression.
• “It is in the form of racial oppression and political persecution that scapegoating is being carried out today, and on a scale that even the most primitive societies of antiquity might have considered excessive” (p. 216).
• Works like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Toni Morrison’s Beloved depict how colonial societies create scapegoats to maintain power structures.

6. New Historicism (Stephen Greenblatt)

• De Verteuil emphasizes how historical contexts shape the use of scapegoats in literature, resonating with New Historicist methods.
• “The ‘Age of Darkness’ seems reassuringly far behind us—or is it? The twentieth century… has seen cycles that are uncomfortably close to that far-off Age of ‘Darkness'” (p. 220).
• Literature like Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Orwell’s 1984 reflects historical moments of scapegoating (McCarthyism, totalitarianism).

7. Feminist Literary Criticism (Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler)

• The text supports feminist analysis by acknowledging how women have been historically scapegoated in literature and society.
• “The destructive tensions in such a society would create such a need for scapegoats that we are hardly surprised to find the old archetypal images emerging once more: Satan, the Satyr, the Scapegoat” (p. 220).
• This applies to works like The Scarlet Letter (Hester Prynne as a scapegoat) and The Handmaid’s Tale (women bearing collective guilt for societal downfall).

8. Trauma and Memory Studies (Cathy Caruth, Marianne Hirsch)

• The study aligns with trauma theory, exploring how scapegoats carry the burden of collective historical trauma.
• “The psychotic scapegoat, especially if introverted, tends rather to suffer the same experience inwardly through nightmarish perceptions, disturbed emotions, and disordered thinking” (p. 221).
• Literature like Beloved or Slaughterhouse-Five explores how scapegoating affects individual and collective memory.

9. Political Literary Theory (Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben)

• The text aligns with biopolitical and Foucauldian theories, showing how power structures create scapegoats to control populations.
• “Imagine one further stage of regression, and the law of the jungle is back: kill or be killed, devour or be devoured” (p. 220).
• Agamben’s Homo Sacer and Orwell’s 1984 show how political scapegoating dehumanizes individuals to justify persecution.

10. Existentialism and Absurdism (Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus)

• The article contributes to existentialist and absurdist readings by emphasizing how scapegoats are alienated figures confronting an irrational society.
• “The scapegoating of the mentally ill is thus not so much a matter of condemnation as one of alienation; society accepts, not that the patient is ‘bad,’ but that he is just ‘not one of us'” (p. 222).
• This aligns with works like Camus’ The Stranger or Kafka’s The Trial, where the protagonist becomes an outcast.

1. Over-Reliance on Jungian Analytical Psychology

• De Verteuil heavily depends on Jungian archetypes, which some critics argue are too universalist and ignore historical and cultural specificity.
• Critics of Jungian theory argue that archetypes are constructed rather than innate, making the scapegoat archetype a culturally contingent phenomenon rather than a universal truth.

2. Limited Engagement with Socio-Political Power Structures

• While De Verteuil discusses scapegoating in politics and history, he does not fully engage with Marxist, Foucauldian, or postcolonial theories that analyze scapegoating as a function of institutional power.
• His analysis focuses more on psychological necessity rather than economic, political, or ideological manipulation of scapegoating by elites.

3. Essentialist View of Human Nature

• The claim that the scapegoat mechanism is an inherent human instinct assumes a fixed human nature, which contradicts poststructuralist and constructivist perspectives.
• Critics might argue that scapegoating is socially conditioned rather than biologically or psychologically predetermined.

4. Lack of Feminist and Intersectional Analysis

• De Verteuil does not specifically address how gender, race, and class shape scapegoating differently, making his framework less applicable to intersectional critiques.
• Feminist critics might argue that scapegoating in literature and history often targets women and marginalized identities differently, a nuance missing from his work.

5. Oversimplification of Religious Evolution

• The text implies a linear progression from primitive sacrifice to enlightened morality, suggesting that society is “outgrowing” scapegoating.
• Religious historians might criticize this as too simplistic, failing to account for the complexity and persistence of sacrificial motifs in modern religious and secular institutions.

6. Weak Empirical Support

• The analysis is largely theoretical and interpretative, with minimal empirical or anthropological evidence to support the claim that societies with greater scapegoating tendencies are necessarily “sicker.”
• Critics might argue that De Verteuil’s conclusions require more concrete sociological or historical data rather than relying on literary and mythological examples.

7. Limited Exploration of Alternative Mechanisms for Social Cohesion

• The text suggests that scapegoating is a primary means of social cohesion, but it does not explore alternative conflict-resolution strategies in historical or modern societies.
• Sociologists might argue that some societies have developed non-scapegoating mechanisms for collective harmony that De Verteuil fails to consider.

8. Lack of Literary Textual Analysis

• Despite its relevance to literary theory, the work does not deeply analyze specific literary texts, making it less effective for literary scholars seeking close readings.
• His theoretical framework is useful but lacks applied literary criticism beyond broad historical and religious references.

9. Ambiguity in the “End of the Scapegoat Era” Claim

• The idea that modern society should move beyond scapegoating is idealistic and ignores how contemporary politics, media, and law continue to function through scapegoating mechanisms.
• Postmodern critics might argue that scapegoating has evolved rather than disappeared, now operating through digital media, corporate blame culture, and scapegoating of social groups in new forms.