Words Over Violence

   In chapter 15, Atticus, Jem, Scout, and Dill have a scary encounter with some people who are willing to do harm to Tom Robinson. However, the way that Atticus was going to deal with these people, and the way that Scout ended up dealing with them really shows that words can have a strong impact on people. Originally, Atticus was going to protect Tom Robinson the night before the trial by waiting outside of his cell. Even though he is the best shot in Maycomb, instead of bringing a gun with him, Atticus just brings a newspaper. Instead of using violence to protect Tom from the people who want to kill him, Atticus just brings a newspaper to read as he is just going to talk out the problem with them. However, everything becomes scary when all of a sudden, the kids show up. This is a very dangerous situation as the kids could get harmed or even killed. However, Scout handles this situation by calling out Mr. Cunningham and breaking his mob mentality which eventually leads to the men leaving.
   Personally, I think that this is a very powerful chapter and scene in the book. This part truly shows that you don't need violence in order to solve problems especially involving the fact that a group of people are wanting to kill a man. Scout, this child who is not even in her teen years yet, made all of the men leave by just using the power of words. Originally, Atticus was going to do that too. With a talent of being the best shot in Maycomb, of course, anyone would think that bringing a gun to help protect someone would be the best solution to protect that one person. However, Atticus didn't think that. Just like Scout, he planned to talk out the problem instead of using violence. Words are just truly that powerful. Scout, a young child, called out Mr. Cunningham and made him realize that he had a family too, just like Tom. She put Mr. Cunningham in a person's shoes or skin and made him walk around. She also broke his mob mentality which then lead to the others leaving Tom alone too. What Scout did and what Atticus planned to do had no use of a weapon or violence at all. They just used their own words, and this shows just like Atticus later said that next day, that everyone is human. We all have our own blind spots. It only took an eight-year-old girl and her words to bring the men in the mob to their senses.

Mr. Cunningham when Scout started to call him out