Walking off the chessboard: part 6
Okay, I delayed posting this thinking I would be able to develop it more, but that doesn't seem to be happening! So this feels a bit like the essay's neglected little brother or something. I look forward to any discussion in comments, especially from people who probably know way more about the religious aspects here that I have shamefully stolen from Wikipedia without much more elaboration. So yeah, this remains a kind of "hey, this is cool" epilogue more than any kind of serious analysis. Even so, I hope you find it as interesting as I did.
Walking off the chessboard: Sam and Lucifer and the role of the Scapegoat in SPN
( master post)
Part 6
Sam as traditional scapegoat
I think by this point I’ve made a decent (and wordy!) argument that SPN portrays Sam Winchester and Lucifer both as scapegoats in their respective dysfunctional families, and laid out how Sam’s choices set him apart from Lucifer.
This next part is far less clear to me, as I’m way more familiar with the roles in dysfunctional families than I am with Judaism and the Bible. But I do find it intriguing, so I thought I’d tie this essay up by suggesting that Sam not only serves the role of scapegoat in the dysfunctional family sense, but also in a more traditional sense.
By taking responsibility for Lucifer’s release on himself, by trying to break out of his role of family scapegoat, Sam might fill an older and more symbolic definition of “scapegoat.”
To quote the Wikipedia, in the literal ritual sacrifice of the goat, meant for purification, by the ancient Jews:
the sending of the goat was... a symbolic expression of the idea that the people's sins and their evil consequences were to be sent back to the spirit of desolation and ruin, the source of all impurity. (1)
And even more interestingly, as someone in fandom once pointed out (and I’ve since forgotten who): The word "scapegoat" is a mistranslation of the word Azazel. Which, of course, we learn in 3.02 is the name of the Yellow Eyed Demon.
According to the Wiki entry on the history of scapegoating, the biblical scapegoat was a goat that was designated "for Azazel" and driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement. (2)
However, the entry for Azazel indicates that not one, but two goats were part of the ritual:
it was Jewish custom to draw lots for two goats: one for the Lord and the other for Azazel. The goat for the Lord was then sacrificed and its blood served as atonement. With the goat for Azazel, the high priest would place both of his hands on the goat's head and confess both his sins and the sins of the people. The goat ("scapegoat") was then led into the desert and set free. (3)
Which is interesting, since it wasn’t just Sam/Lucifer who fell into the cage in 5.22, but Adam/Michael as well. Given that we know Sam returns to Earth (in some form), it’s tempting to pair him with the goat for Azazel, let free into the wilderness, with Adam as the blood sacrifice of atonement. However, I don’t think the show was being this literal. Simply put, I think because Sam was the one to cage Lucifer by trapping himself, we can perhaps see Sam as the sacrifice for atonement -- not for the sins of an entire people, necessarily, but arguably for the “sins” of family dysfunction -- both his family and the Heavenly family. By which, I of course do not intend to erase Sam's own role in this dysfunction, or his role in Lucifer's release. I'm speaking purely metaphorically.
But it is too cool to pass up, especially in the context of the rest of this essay.
Walking off the chessboard: Sam and Lucifer and the role of the Scapegoat in SPN
( master post)
Part 6
Sam as traditional scapegoat
I think by this point I’ve made a decent (and wordy!) argument that SPN portrays Sam Winchester and Lucifer both as scapegoats in their respective dysfunctional families, and laid out how Sam’s choices set him apart from Lucifer.
This next part is far less clear to me, as I’m way more familiar with the roles in dysfunctional families than I am with Judaism and the Bible. But I do find it intriguing, so I thought I’d tie this essay up by suggesting that Sam not only serves the role of scapegoat in the dysfunctional family sense, but also in a more traditional sense.
By taking responsibility for Lucifer’s release on himself, by trying to break out of his role of family scapegoat, Sam might fill an older and more symbolic definition of “scapegoat.”
To quote the Wikipedia, in the literal ritual sacrifice of the goat, meant for purification, by the ancient Jews:
the sending of the goat was... a symbolic expression of the idea that the people's sins and their evil consequences were to be sent back to the spirit of desolation and ruin, the source of all impurity. (1)
And even more interestingly, as someone in fandom once pointed out (and I’ve since forgotten who): The word "scapegoat" is a mistranslation of the word Azazel. Which, of course, we learn in 3.02 is the name of the Yellow Eyed Demon.
According to the Wiki entry on the history of scapegoating, the biblical scapegoat was a goat that was designated "for Azazel" and driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement. (2)
However, the entry for Azazel indicates that not one, but two goats were part of the ritual:
it was Jewish custom to draw lots for two goats: one for the Lord and the other for Azazel. The goat for the Lord was then sacrificed and its blood served as atonement. With the goat for Azazel, the high priest would place both of his hands on the goat's head and confess both his sins and the sins of the people. The goat ("scapegoat") was then led into the desert and set free. (3)
Which is interesting, since it wasn’t just Sam/Lucifer who fell into the cage in 5.22, but Adam/Michael as well. Given that we know Sam returns to Earth (in some form), it’s tempting to pair him with the goat for Azazel, let free into the wilderness, with Adam as the blood sacrifice of atonement. However, I don’t think the show was being this literal. Simply put, I think because Sam was the one to cage Lucifer by trapping himself, we can perhaps see Sam as the sacrifice for atonement -- not for the sins of an entire people, necessarily, but arguably for the “sins” of family dysfunction -- both his family and the Heavenly family. By which, I of course do not intend to erase Sam's own role in this dysfunction, or his role in Lucifer's release. I'm speaking purely metaphorically.
But it is too cool to pass up, especially in the context of the rest of this essay.