This article presents Karen Blixen's concept of the family scapegoat as it was elaborated in a number of her tales. This recurrent theme in her fictional writing is linked to events in her own family life, in particular her own assumption of a scapegoat-prodigal child role during the “African period” of her life. Furthermore, her assumption of this role and her particular view of her destiny, pitting her against the rest of her family, was related to her strong identification with her father, intensified following his suicide when she was a child.