Scapegoat (Short Version)

Author: Daphne Du Maurier
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1982-06-01
Features: The Scapegoat was written in 1957. The story takes place in the city of Ramsay, France. John, a British teacher who teaches French history, is dissatisfied with his rigidly lecturing on textbook content in class. He believes his job is a failure, and his life is dull and unhappy. To understand the real situation of French society, he comes to Ramsay, France during his vacation. There, he meets a French man named Jean Dagon, who looks exactly like him. Although Jean Dagon is wealthy, he also feels life is empty and dull due to the troubles of family life and his glass factory, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, and thus he wants to escape reality. After they meet, Jean Dagon adds sleeping pills to the wine, making John dizzy, then switches clothes with him and leaves him at the hotel, while he himself runs away. As a result, John is mistakenly taken home by Jean Dagon's family as Jean Dagon himself. During the week he lives with the Dagon family, John gradually familiarizes himself with their situation and makes appropriate arrangements for the lives and work of each family member. He also manages to prevent Dagon's glass factory from collapsing and revitalize it. In this way, the conflict between the Dagon family and Jean Dagon is resolved.