Examples Of Mob Mentality In To Kill A Mockingbird

The Great Depression was marked as “a time of devastation and uncertainty” (McCabe 12). The novel was based during the 1930’s, an era of severe economic decline, with high levels of unemployment (McCabe12). Harpers Lee’s novel is based on the events of this time period, and how society harms innocent beings. The Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and Scottsboro Trials were all influential to the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the many factors that influenced Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The laws were harsh constraints for African Americans, placed in the southern United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which promoted the separation of races publicly. These laws were passed to

The term “mob mentality” alludes, often negatively, to the exclusive behaviors that develop in disruptive crowds and riots. In addition, it can be used to describe why public congregations result in violence and why the urge to be accepted and conform to the group is so strong (Smith). The reasoning process behind a mob mentality is that it is acceptable to commit wrong actions if there are multiple people doing the same thing. People in the riot often forget their individual morals and adopt the riots principles of violence and destruction. Because there is more than a single person, it increases the anonymity and can even make one feel invisible in the crowd (Edmonds). A riot also leads to the false reasoning that the repercussions will be different because of the profuse amount of people attending (Edmonds). Mob mentality can be identified in To Kill a Mockingbird in many ways. A mob mentality can develop in a large range of public situations, including prison disturbances and sporting events (Edmonds; Smith). In prison riots, all of the prisoners strife against authorities in hope for increased freedom or a better living environment. At a sporting event fans get very rowdy trying to anticipate a win, which, in extreme cases, can result in a riot (Edmonds). Mob mentality appears in To Kill a Mockingbird the night when Atticus was in front of Maycomb jail protecting Tom Robinson. Earlier in that day, Atticus was warned that a mob might try to kill Tom because they believe his crimes are not deserving of a trial (Lee 194). As predicted, a mob does try to take Tom, but Atticus never relinquishes him. Scout ultimately broke the mob mentality and determination by singling out Mr. Cunningham, and reminding him of his individual morals (Lee 203-206). Mob mentality was portrayed in the novel, but the Scottsboro trials contributed to the development of To Kill a