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I read this expression, "the apportioning of blame", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:
Even before the case was dismissed, the apportioning of blame had begun. I viewed this activity from a distance, but I knew that within the various departments it was swift and vicious, and I was not the only one to wonder how long the prosecutor would last. For several days, there were a great many journalists at the Court— in the lobby, the corridors, on certain days they virtually occupied the cafeteria, thrusting chairs in place to form groups as they huddled over their coffee, their manner always urgent and professional. We regarded them with both suspicion and awe, they possessed the ability to direct attention to a particular event, person, or place with the press of a button, and they were now using that power to direct the world’s gaze on the Court.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 16
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is looking at the situation where the case against the former president--who stood accused of having committed war crimes--has been dismissed.
In this part, I wonder what the underlined part means.
I guess it might mean blaming other people, or dividing the blame to several people, but I am not sure.
And, I also vaguely feel that this "apportioning of blame" has to do with "how long the prosecutor would last", but I wonder what it exactly means; would it mean the prosecutor would give up on the appeal...? Or would it mean that the blame would also be apportioned to the prosecutor...?
Even before the case was dismissed, the apportioning of blame had begun. I viewed this activity from a distance, but I knew that within the various departments it was swift and vicious, and I was not the only one to wonder how long the prosecutor would last. For several days, there were a great many journalists at the Court— in the lobby, the corridors, on certain days they virtually occupied the cafeteria, thrusting chairs in place to form groups as they huddled over their coffee, their manner always urgent and professional. We regarded them with both suspicion and awe, they possessed the ability to direct attention to a particular event, person, or place with the press of a button, and they were now using that power to direct the world’s gaze on the Court.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 16
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is looking at the situation where the case against the former president--who stood accused of having committed war crimes--has been dismissed.
In this part, I wonder what the underlined part means.
I guess it might mean blaming other people, or dividing the blame to several people, but I am not sure.
And, I also vaguely feel that this "apportioning of blame" has to do with "how long the prosecutor would last", but I wonder what it exactly means; would it mean the prosecutor would give up on the appeal...? Or would it mean that the blame would also be apportioned to the prosecutor...?
