Sharla York

Parallels Between Sacrifical Functions
in Incan Society and Post-Colonial Peru

Sharla makes effective use of Girard's marks of the scapegoat in discussing victims
of the Incas' human sacrifice. Unlike the Maya, the Incas did have a sense of sin or guilt,
so they thought of sacrifice as expiatory, as did the Spanish conquistadors.
Sharla also draws a parallel to Catholic Spaniards who used "sacrifice" in the form of massacre
to establish their claim to Incan land. While later the symbolic sacrifice of Eucharist was meant
to replace human sacrifice, it also failed to keep the native people of Peru "happy and healthy."