Examples Of Fear Over Fairness In To Kill A Mockingbird

Fear over fairness

Fear is a survival response to anything that may possibly endanger you. Fear is the cause for most emotions, rules, words and actions. Fear of what you don't know can cause hate. Hatred is anger, and anger is a response to being hurt or upset; the unknown is upsetting. Scout Finch, the naive child in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is realizing that even though people are afraid of ignorance, they protect it vehemently. She sees fear overpowering reason in symbolic ways, in events she witnesses, and through characters she interacts with. It makes sense to her that one would try to understand what they are afraid of, but sometimes fear can overwhelm logic. Many of the symbols show how fear triumphs logic; the symbol

As the jury examines his case, they can clearly see that he never touched her, but they fear upsetting the traditional racism because they don't know what might happen if their 'judicial' system was brought to it's knees. "Judge Taylor was polling the jury: 'guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty'"(240). The verdict was guilty, obviously because their reasoning was warped by their fear of change in their traditional way of living. Another event was Jem's attack on Mrs. Dubose's camellia bushes. As Jem was passing Mrs. Dubose's house with Scout, he thinks about how much he hates Mrs. Dubose, because he's afraid that her words will upset Atticus and hurt his reputation. He approached Mrs. Dubose's gate and "snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Duboe's front yard...He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves "(118). He let his fear of Atticus getting hurt overpower his sensibility, and doesn't think about the consequences of his actions. Finally, an example is when the mob of people set out to lynch Tom. As they got out of their cars "In ones and twos...shadows became substance as light revealed solid shapes moving toward the jail door...'You know what we want"(171-172). These people have

For instance, Mayella Ewell is a young woman with a chaotic household to run, siblings to care for, an abusive father and no outlet for her emotions. When Mayella realizes that her father has seen her expression affection for a black man, she is overwhelmed by the fear of what he might do to her. As the case of rape spirals out of her control, she is haunted by the knowledge that Tom may be executed because of her cowardice. "'What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it?'...Then she burst into real tears. her shoulders shook with angry sobs"(213-214). She knows he's innocent, and she knows everyone else knows he's innocent, but she never backed out of her accusation because she knew if she did her father and the oppressive society she lives in would hurt her. Another character that releases fear triumphs logic is Jem. As Jem thinks about the outcome of the court case, he realizes that the unjust society he hates is corrupted because of other people's fear. He says to Scout, "I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in that house all this time...it's because he wants to stay inside"(259). He understands the concept of all humans being equal, and he realizes that he'd rather lock himself up than continue being a part of this oppressive system. He is coming to terms with the fact that hatred overpowers reasoning. Finally, a