The Issue of Blaming the Victim Paulyn Annor 11th Grade

Anna C. Salter, an author, commented on the act of placing blame on victims of rape saying, “We mute the realization of malevolence-which is too threatening to bear- by turning offenders into victims themselves and by describing their behavior as a result of forces beyond their control.” Salter explains that society hides the magnitude of how evil acts of rape are by blaming victims of rape for the acts committed against them by the culprits. Metamorphoses by Ovid and Salter both emphasize the dehumanizing effects of blaming victims of rape and critique the fact that blame is placed on those who were raped. Ovid employs imagery, symbolism, and diction in Metamorphoses to criticize “blaming the victim” as a mentality that further dehumanizes victims of rape because this notion prevents survivors from speaking out against the offenders.

First, Ovid utilizes imagery to portray that the shame and guilt associated with rape, which is perpetuated by the act of blaming victims, led to Persephone’s submission to her abductor and rapist, Pluto, in “The Rape of Proserpina”. Through the use of isolating imagery, Ovid establishes that Persephone is not to be blamed for her rape. Venus, the goddess of love, demands Cupid to strike Pluto...