Mayella Ewell accuses the men of not being proper gentlemen; this is another reason why the jury is afraid to do anything else but send him to prison. They are afraid to tarnish a lady’s reputation. Thus, Lee is able to show that even in a place where all men should be treated equally it is people’s fears that cloud their decision.
Tom is also feared because they don’t understand him, they have the preconceptions that “ all Negroes are immoral.” However, when the jury discover that he did things out of the kindness of his own heart and he is a genuinely good person, they become confused. Similarly, Dolphus Raymond is feared because of ignorance. Through both these characters Lee is able to show that ignorance manufactures fear, which is usually unjustified. Even Scout thinks that Dolphus Raymond is and “evil man” because she hears rumours that he is an alcoholic. People fear him because they don’t understand why he would throw away respectability for spending time with Negroes. He even has to pretend to be an alcoholic to help the people of Maycomb understand what he is doing.
Lee shows that fear drives the actions which is clearly shown when Tom tries to escape from prison. Tom who was a rational man before going to court was driven to suicide. Lee demonstrates through Tom how fear can be converted to anger causing impulsive actions. Tom was afraid of being in prison all his life, he feared that the appeal would not be successful, because Atticus also tried to encourage him but never said anything for definite. Tom expresses his fear in physical ways. Such as when he ran off the Ewell place because he was “scared [he’d] be in court” he knew that if he went to court, prejudice alone, would put him in jail. Tom was afraid of court because he knew it was unjust, this is implied when he tells Gilmer that he was “ scared [he’d] hafta face up to what [he] didn’t do.” This suggests that he feared the injustice of the town. The town would persecute him either way, if he were acquitted then Ewell would want revenge and if he wasn’t then he would go to the electric chair. He ran off the Ewell place and tried to escape from prison because he was more afraid of what the white men would do to him.
The other main theme in this book is the children’s discovery of the real Boo Radley. The primary reason for Boo Radley staying inside his house, is “because he wants to stay inside.” When Jem is trying to understand why Aunt Alexandra thinks Walter Cunningham is “ trash” he realises that “ it ain’t right” and this injustice and ignorance is why Boo stays inside his house out of preference. He is “shy” and afraid of being “despised.” He doesn’t like the outside world because people just “ can’t … get along.” He fears this ignorance; it is that which makes the vicious rumours.
Boo Radley is mainly a symbolic character in the book; we only get to know about him by what others say and how they react to him. He represents the fear in the hearts of other people. Small town folks fear that if they act strangely and fail to adhere to social rules they too will end up like Boo isolated and thought of as a “monster.”
The people of Maycomb make up rumours about Boo Radley because they don’t understand him, which result in scary myths and thus people are afraid of him. People are scared that he might “ Kill them all”. The myths are a way for the people to justify why he doesn’t come out. They are afraid of the unknown. They just cannot comprehend him being a normal person and choosing to stay inside the house. Keeping to oneself is “ unforgivable” in Maycomb, because he is different and does not comply with their rules.
It is this fear that stops individual thought. It breeds prejudice; people are afraid of thinking for themselves. It prevents individuals from standing up for what they believe in. However, Atticus is able to do what he believes in because he does not fear losing the community’s respect. It is more important for him to be able to “ live with [him] self.” Atticus was “born to do … unpleasant jobs” because the rest of society is “too afraid to do [it] themselves.” He is not hindered by the fear of being cast out by society he has enough self-confidence that he can “ do the right thing.” Lee can show that only the people with major character flaws are afraid, and Atticus has no irrational prejudice hence he is capable of understanding people and therefore has nothing to fear.
The only time we are shown Atticus’s fear is at the lynching. Lee is able to show that everyone has some fear. Atticus had a look of “ plain fear” when he saw Scout at the lynching because he knew the dangerous position he was in, unlike Scout, he feared for the lives of his children. His fear was not through prejudice but because he loved them. Here Atticus is not afraid for his own life but because his own children might be involved and hurt in something which didn’t concern them.
Aunt Alexandra is very prejudiced and believes she is superior. Although Aunt Alexandra has many of the same prejudices as the rest of Maycomb country and fits in like a “glove” Lee is able to explore fear in a different way staying within the barriers of prejudice. Aunt Alexandra is afraid of being dislodged; she is obsessed with “ gentle breeding” and her status in society. We can see that she wants the Finches to be elite, and be the “ royalty” of Maycomb and goes to such extremes as preventing Scout spending time with Walter Cunningham because she is afraid of Scout “picking up his habits.” She supposes that because Walter is poor he is “ trash.”
She makes Atticus try and to “impress upon “ them that they are not from “ run-of-the-mill people.” This shows how important she thinks it is and she fears Scout will eventually disgrace the Finch family severely. This is shown with her expression of “disapproval” when Scout is asked to meet her cousin Lily. Aunt Alexandra fears losing her positions of “ authority,” and she fears that Atticus and the children will disgrace the family.
Jem and Scout as young children have many fears caused by ignorance; Lee explores fear through the eyes of Scout all through the book. However, it is only at the end where we can see that when Jem and Scout put face to face with fear are able to combat it. They are obviously afraid when walking back from the pageant in a dark forest, as Jem was anxious to move quicker and thus asks Scout to take off her costume and became very protective. Jem screamed “run” to Scout because he was afraid that she might get hurt. His priority the whole time is to make Scout safe whereas Scout was more confused rather than actually afraid. The setting is symbolic, as the children are afraid of the dark wood because they don’t know what is out there and they were scared that they couldn’t handle it. This represents the world around them, which is their personal fear throughout the book, the fear of the outside world because they don’t understand it. Their escape is also ironic, as they were rescued by the man they feared. The concluding chapters in the novel are used by Lee to explore fear where it is not directly concerned to prejudice. As Jem and Scout were put into an unknown situation and were very frightened, they were saved by the man that they feared because he was unknown. It is here that the children are able to realise that all along it is he who is afraid of the world. Lee is able to show that they all fear something, which can bring them together.
Lee explores fear in several situations and shows it clearly as a strong force in the book by every character being individually affected by it. Throughout the novel it is rarely, directly referred to and yet is such a powerful force behind so many of the actions. Lee explores the emotion in many forms and ultimately Scout shows that although she has discovered that people can be evil in unfathomable ways, she still upholds her faith in humankind and can face anything with courage. Unlike Dill, she finds that the real world does follow patterns, and once one knows them, the world of fantasy and books is the only place where real fear can exist. From the beginning of the novel, where scout has a fear of Boo, school and things she didn’t understand Scout has grown to understand that fear is unnecessary. In this way all of Maycomb County fears something irrational, they fear, fear.
