Chapter+11+Race+and+Ethnicity



Scapegoat – a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom other people unfairly blame for their own troubles The people who live in Thieves’ Forest are kicked out of their homes. Prince Humperdinck orders them to be purged because he lies and tells his men that they could be potential troublemakers during his wedding. The citizens of Thieves’ Forest are Prince Humperdinck’s scapegoats; they are blamed for something they clearly aren’t doing.

Race – a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important In the movie, most of the characters are members of the same race. Other than Inigo, the other characters are white. Inigo Montoya has a Spanish background instead.

Ethnicity – a shared cultural heritage The characters of the movie, excluding Inigo Montoya, all have the same ethnic background. They are white and from Florin, which means they probably have the same common ancestors and religion. They also speak the same language as each other.

Minority: any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural differences that a society sets apart and subordinates Fezzik is part of a minority because of his physical stature of being taller than most people. He is considered to be a giant and he doesn’t know many people like himself. He is set apart from the society because of his size.

Prejudice: a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people Fezzik is considered to be a giant because of his size but the viewers are never told whether or not he is. Everyone just makes a generalization due to his size that he can’t be like the rest of society. For this reason he finds it hard to make friends or be near his family who aren’t the same size as him.

Discrimination: unequal treatment of various categories of people The society is very discriminating against Fezzik because he is larger than most people. Fezzik finds it hard to find a job and this is why he takes employment with Vizzini. The sad thing is that the only reason Vizzini hired Fezzik was because of his size and that he thought Fezzik would have no problem killing people.