Nuremberg....a witch hunt? -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 14:54:39 01/28/08 Mon
Author: CS Holden
Subject: Nuremberg....a witch hunt?

Dr. Jackson mentioned the Red Scare as an example of the scapegoat mechanism. I thought a bit about that, and the discussion of justice and how it inherently scapegoats a particular kind of person (a criminal), and how "we feel better" when justice has been served.

I just finished Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Mother Night" about a week ago. It's about this American who acted as a double-agent for the Nazis and the Allies in WWII, who then sneaked out of post-war Germany and began living anonymously in New York. He gets discovered as a war criminal, and he's attacked by embittered Americans who don't even know him personally. He narrates all this from his cell, awaiting trial in Israel for crimes against Jews.

It's a perfect example of the glorified scapegoat, the victim. He's made a victim because he's seen as a victimizer, and the fact that he's the protagonist of the novel makes him a victim with whom we sympathize. The great thing is, other self-proclaimed victimizer/victims latch onto him in America, racists and bigots, because they want to be glorified in the same way.

Anyways. I was just thinking about the kinds of witchhunts that still happen today, which are given a stamp of approval because we make victims of victimizers.

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