Fear and Courage

“ ‘Sure that’s all, now? I don’t want you hollerin’ something different the minute I get back.’' (Page 18)

            During this part of the chapter, Dill is trying to convince Jem (who is scared of th house) to run up to the Radley house and touch the wall. Jem has heard stories about the Boo's house, making him scared of what could happen to him if Boo Radley saw him. Dill is trying to make Jem face his fears by going up to the house. Once Jem thinks about it, he decides to go for it. Jem then finds the courage to run up to the house and run back. 

            Harper Lee is showing an example of someone overcoming the fears facing them. The only way to stop being scared is to face the fear. Everyone has fears and one lesson is to get over your fear as soon as you can, because if you don't, then that fear can restrict other things. 

The Radley House; This is the house
many people are frightened by,
 however Jem had the courage to go
up to the house and touch the wall. 

“ ‘There ain’t no need to fear a cootie, ma’am. Ain’t you ever seen one? Now don’t be afraid, you just go back to your desk, and teach us some more’ ” (Page 34)

            During this chapter, Mrs Caroline sees a cootie crawl out of Burris Ewell’s hair. Mrs Caroline points and tells him he is excused to go home and wash his hair. Mrs Caroline is frightened to see something crawl out of his hair; however, Burris Ewell is not at all scared. Burris Ewell must have already been exposed to parasites, which makes him not scared of them.

           Harper Lee shows that not everyone is exposed to the same environment and therefore makes some people afraid of things, while others not. Harper Lee is showing that everyone has different fears because they were raised differently and shouldn't be judged for that. Burris Ewell doesn't understand why Mrs Caroline is scared and he should consider that he was raised differently than she was.