Taylor Swift Ms. Hardin English 9 20 January, 2015
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Even 50 years after the classic book ​
To Kill A Mockingbird ​
was published, Harper Lee’s underlying messages of how fear influences how one person treats others still hold true. ​
To Kill A Mockingbird ​
is about a black man named Tom Robinson, how he is accused of raping a white woman and his lawyer Atticus; but this book’s most important character is the narrator ​
Scout Finch. Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson all experience how fear can make people treat others unfairly by rumors, loneliness and racism. In the book ​
To Kill A Mockingbird,​
Harper Lee is conveying the truth that fear can prevent people from treating everyone fairly by showing how the citizens of Maycomb treat Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson. Fear prevents the people of Maycomb from treating Boo Radley like an actual person. Scout, Jem, and Dill are near the Radley house and Dill is daring Jem to go touch the house. Scout, as the narrator, tells, “Our first raid came to pass only because Dill bet Jem ​
The Gray Ghost ​
[a valuable item] against two Tom Swifts [a not as valuable item] that Jem wouldn’t get any farther than the Radley gate” (13). In this quote, Scout is commenting on Jem’s reluctance to go into Radley property and touch the house. This shows the theme of fear because Dill had to bet Jem a valuable item to go get him to touch the house, which makes the house (and it’s inhabitants) seem myterious and a game, a test of courage. Their fear of Boo Radley makes the house seem unreal, and Boo himself seem like a phantom, not as an actual person that should be respected and appreciated. Another example is when Scout, again as the narrator, is talking about the rumors in the town. She describes the town’s warped image of Boo Radley by saying; “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in the windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work” (8​
9). This quote is showing that the people of Maycomb do not treat Boo Radley like an actual person. In fact, this quote shows with amazing detail how much the townfolk see Boo as like an evil fairey of sorts. The rumors and people in the town even take away his name and change it to one that fits ‘Mavolent phantom’. Of course, an evil fairey is not human, and is to be regarded with fear; not compassion. Therefore, with these two quotes, there is a lot of proof that the citizens of Maycomb treat Boo Radley like some sort of evil mystery, their fear from the rumors prevent them from treating Boo Radley like an actual person. Fear prevents the citizens of Maycomb from treating Boo fairly. Fear prevents Scout and Jem from treating Mrs. Dubose like a respected elderly lady. Jem is reading to Mrs. Dubose in repayment for smashing her flowers, and Scout is with him. Scout takes one look and her and wants to be gone from the room. Scout narrates disgustedly, “She was horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillowcase, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin. Old​
age liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils. Her hands were knobby, and cuticules were grown up over her fingernails” (106). Scout is scared of how Mrs. Dubose looks, and this fear of her looks prevents Scout from actually treating Mrs. Dubose like a respected old lady. Instead, Scout and Jem kind of treat her like the Mad Dog ( Can’t be helped, scary, gross). Another instance of this is when Scout is describing her and Jem’s daily walk to school, and their struggle about walking past Mrs. Dubose’s house. Scout says, “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior, and given a melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grew up, which was always nothing. We had long ago given up the idea of walking past her house on the opposite side of the street; that only made her raise her voice and let the whole neighborhood on on it” (99). In this quote, Scout is describing why she and Jem hate Mrs. Dubose. Harper Lee shows how fear prevents Scout and Jem from treating Mrs. Dubose like a respected elderly lady by introducing the quiet message of how when one person treats another person badly, that other person loses respect for them. By always yelling at Scout and Jem, Mrs. Dubose ensures that they will not like her, she even goes as far as to insult their father. She makes the children feel bad about themselves, and in turn, Jem and Scout hate her, not respect her like they should respect an elderly lady. Fear of Mrs. Dubose’s looks and her comments prevent both Scout and Jem from treating her fairly. Fear prevents the people of Maycomb from treating Tom Robinson fairly. Scout and Jem are passing by Mrs. Dubose’s house when they hear another one of her instagating comments. Mrs. Dubose snipes nastily, “Not only a Finch in waiting on tables, but one in the courthouse lawing for n**gers!” (101). In this quote, Mrs. Dubose is trying purposely to aggravate Jem. She is saying what she knows will make him mad, but also is showing how afraid she is of being alone. She doesn’t really have anyone else to talk to, so she tries to get Jem and Scout to talk back, even is they’re yelling. This fear (of lonliness) makes her treat Tom unfairly. She could easily have said “​
one in the courthouse lawing for that colored man” o
​r “​
lawing for that Negro” but instead she chose to say an extremly hurtful and unfair nickname for Tom and his race in general. Another example is when Jem is complaining to Ms. Maudie about the outcome of the case, Ms. Maudie comments sadly, “We’re the safest people in the world” (215). In this quote, which is seemingly unsignificant, Ms. Maudie is implying that being the safest people in the world is not a good thing, being the safest people is not being the best people sometimes. By saying “We’re”, Ms. Maudie is referring to the citizens of Maycomb. Harper Lee’s underlying message in this exerpt is that people who are always safe and are used to just being safe (no change) are afraid of a change. Ms. Maudie says this also when she is talking about how the jury was debating for hours instead of minutes. This shows fear because it shows how the citizens of Maycomb may be safe, but they are afraid of any kind of change, even if it may affect them for the better. Through these two quotes it is clear how Maycomb’s Citizens’ fear of change prevents them from treating Tom Robinson justly. Although they may have good intentions, fear can prevent people from treating others fairly. In ​
To Kill A Mockingbird​
, Harper Lee shows how fear can prevent people from treating everyone fairly by showing how people in the town of Maycomb treat Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson. This fear prevented Maycomb’s citizens from treating Boo Radley like an actual person, Scout and Jem from treating Mrs. Dubose like a respected elderly lady, and the white jury that is judging Tom's case from treating Tom Robinson fairly. It’s been evident throughout years, decades, and eras, from the Romans to the fictional town of Maycomb to now. Fear is an underlying theme of life, and of ​
To Kill A Mockingbird ​
by Harper Lee.