Tracing the Narratives of Scapegoating: An Allportian Examination  of Brick Lane

Muhammad Sadaqat Tahir; Farrukh Nadeem

doi:10.32350/llr.111.02

Muhammad Sadaqat Tahir International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1027-9408
Farrukh Nadeem International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/llr.111.02

Keywords: Allport, Brick Lane, migration, sacrifice, scapegoating, South Asian

Abstract

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Brick Lane by Monica Ali centers on the themes of migration,
displacement, institution of marriage, identity crises, misrepresentation
and so forth. The work has been explored from these aspects but the new
dimensions within this context have not been examined comprehensively.
This paper aims to investigate the motif of scapegoating in the novel,
which draws upon Gordon W. Allport’s conception. Scapegoating, for
Allport, manifests itself in different characters that project their failures
and frustrations to other people who are powerless and silenced. In its
South Asian backdrop, it is blaming, killing, or scarifying a person or a
group of people for personal, societal reasons or to attain certain kinds of
outcomes. In case of Brick Lane, Nazneen is scapegoated by her parents
when they choose Chanu, forty years old and an ugly person, as her
husband. The paper will attempt to go beyond the mythological
implications of scapegoating by employing it as a theoretical framework.
Moreover, the question of a human being, as a modern scapegoat, in the
present time will be delineated. Scapegoating functions on different levels
depending upon the contexts where it is exercised. The objectives of this
study are to highlight the factors enhancing the victimization by blocking
the ways of empowerment. The analytical mood of inquiry will be used to
conduct the research.

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