The Perilous Power of the Mob: How Scout Finch Defused a Lynch Mob
Mobs are dangerous. The shift in individual behavior within a large group can lead to irrational decisions and actions that individuals would never consider alone. This phenomenon, known as mob mentality, is explored in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through the character of Scout Finch, Lee demonstrates how even a child can disrupt the momentum of a mob and prevent violence.
Understanding Mob Mentality
Mob mentality refers to the unique behavioral characteristics that emerge when people are in large groups. It is the sense of confusion or even panic that can exist in a large group. In group settings, people often experience "deindividuation," a loss of self-awareness that provokes behaviors they would typically avoid when alone. This can lead to poor decision-making and the defamation of character.
Anne Trafton's article "Good People Do Bad Things" explains that people don't always act rationally in group settings. The brain behaves differently, caught in a "mob mentality." This can be seen in everyday life, like when people flock to a crowded restaurant, assuming it must be good simply because it's busy.
The Maycomb Mob
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the community of Maycomb, Alabama, is deeply prejudiced. This prejudice fuels the mob mentality that threatens Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. A lynch mob, driven by racism and a desire for vigilante justice, gathers outside the jail where Tom is held. Their intention is clear: to take the law into their own hands and murder Tom.
Harper Lee illustrates that social norms have a negative impact on innocent people. Born into poverty, Mayella Ewell is an outsider in Maycomb. She had no friends and no one that loved her, she never felt the love from anyone, not even from her parents.
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Atticus Finch, Tom's lawyer, stands alone against the mob, determined to protect his client and uphold the law. He understands the power of mob mentality but also believes in the inherent goodness of individuals.
Scout's Unintentional Intervention
The popular home team broke out from their tight huddle and separated throughout the field. Their anguished faces concentrated on the last quarter; they are only 5 points up. The earnest and intoxicating energy transfers into the equally tense crowd. The fierce competition begins to boil up into the fans. Someone yells a blind comment within the rage and before anyone knows it, fights break out throughout the crowd. Teeth fly, blood sprays the walls like a fresh coat of crimson paint, over causes that the fans will soon forget. This mentality steels the minds of the fans. Innocent bystanders get wrapped up into these rioting mobs and police are left to wonder who is responsible and who is to be punished.
Innocently, Atticus's children, Jem and Scout, along with their friend Dill, arrive at the jail. Scout, a young girl, doesn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. She recognizes Mr. Cunningham, one of the men in the mob, and addresses him directly.
Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down.
Humanizing the Enemy
Scout speaks to Mr. Cunningham about his son, Walter, who is in her class. She reminds him of a time when he brought them hickory nuts, recalling a personal connection and treating him with respect.
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Scout says “Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one early morning, remember? We had a talk. I went and got my daddy to come out and thank you. I go to school with your boy. I go to school with Walter; he's a nice boy.”(chapter 15, Lee)
This simple act of recognition and empathy has a profound effect. By reminding Mr. Cunningham of his individual identity and his relationship with her, Scout breaks through the anonymity of the mob.
The Mob Dissolves
Her unintentional comments made “him feel at home”. Mr. Cunningham is ashamed of his actions and realizes the potential consequences of his participation in the mob. He sees that his actions are not just directed at Tom Robinson but also affect his own family and community.
Moved by Scout's innocence and her reminder of their shared humanity, Mr. Cunningham tells the mob to leave. He realizes what he was doing and how it was going to affect his family and his life. The mob, its unity broken, disperses, and Tom Robinson is saved, as well as Atticus Finch’s life.
The Power of Individualism
Scout Finch isolates one of the violent people in the mob by asking him about his son. By relating to his family, Mr.Cunningham realized what he was doing and how it was going to affect his family and his life. Perhaps more important than this example is the obvious fact issued when Harper Lee famously writes, “A mob is always made up of people, no matter what” (Lee 210). People fuel a mob like gasoline in a semi trailer. Without people there is no mob. Consequences must be established in order to stripe the mob of its source and energy.
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Scout's actions highlight the importance of individualism in combating mob mentality. When people are seen as individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and relationships, it becomes more difficult to dehumanize them and justify violence.
People of today’s society, and even from one hundred years ago, have been victim of wanting to be “normal”, usual, and most important, accepted. This drive and fear of rejection have been the catalysts of the formation of civilizations and industries abroad. This pattern can even be seen in things such as literature and the arts; characters in such things are either rejected or have rejected someone for the sole purpose of their own benefit. The theme depicted in the book To Kill A Mockingbird and the musical The Phantom of the Opera is the struggle for the individual to live openly in a society that has rejected his flawed existence.
Individualism is a commonly sought after truth in this world. For it is when this sense of individuality is obtained that one becomes empowered. Greater concepts that could be drawn from this is that acting with such originality could give you the opportunity to have extensive views, learn new things and make a difference. The texts ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, written by Harper Lee and ‘12 Angry Men’ directed by Sidney Lumet; both display contrasting features and qualities. While both are very diverse texts, they both share an undeniable resemblance, in relation to a single person affecting a group 's idea of a just and morally right decision. Prejudice and discrimination are a reflection of how both the accused characters in either text sway opinions about which course of action is correct. Two of the protagonists, Atticus Finch and Juror 8, exemplify how a single individual can drastically change what those around them perceive to be right and wrong.
Lessons Learned
Atticus also suggests that the presence of reasonable people can serve as a cure to unreasonable behavior.
Through Scout, Lee emphasizes the power of empathy and understanding. Atticus teaches Scout to always look at situations from other people’s perspective.
First of all, if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . Here, Atticus articulates the central lesson he wants to convey to Scout, which is that empathy is the key to understanding others. Atticus presents lessons in empathy several times in relation to Scout’s schoolmates, her teacher, the mob outside the courthouse, and the jury. By the end of the novel, Scout has begun using empathy to understand others.
He knows that by agreeing to defend Tom Robinson he has put himself and his family in line for some unpleasant experiences. Atticus is particularly interested in protecting his children from the ugliness around the trial, and here, he tries to convince Scout to ignore whatever abuse comes her way. Scout tries mightily to obey her father’s advice throughout the novel.
Here Atticus is talking to Jem about Mrs. Dubose’s commitment to beating her morphine addiction before death, even though she knows she is going to die regardless. Elsewhere in the novel Atticus uses the same language to describe how he faces Tom Robinson’s trial knowing from the beginning that he cannot win, and that the jury will find Tom guilty no matter what.
In this quote, Atticus says he would rather Bob Ewell focus his rage on Atticus than on one of Bob’s children. He is trying to get Jem to consider the situation from Bob’s point of view, and understand the humiliation and rage Bob must feel as a result of the trial.
Atticus explains mob mentality, arguing that well-intentioned individuals can lose their basic humanity when they act together. Examples of this behavior include the group that appears outside Tom Robinson’s cell at night, and the jury that finds him guilty.
Mob mentality is a dangerous characteristic of a person’s attitude. When in a group people often experience “deindividuation, or a loss of self-awareness” causing “the provocation of behaviors that a person would not typically engage in if alone” (Avant). These behaviors can include poor decision making processes and engaging in the defamation of one’s character. It is important that people stand up to this mentality to stop it before extensive damage can be done.
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