The line, "Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself" came from President Roosevelt’s first inaugural speech when he said, "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself." At this time this line was said to give the American people hope during the Great Depression. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb was also suffering from the Great Depression and President Roosevelt's famous line brought hope to Maycomb's inhabitants. I think Harper Lee put this line in the novel to show the setting in which it took place.
Sources: To Kill a Mockingbird http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
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Arjun Rajesh
11/5/2009 06:01:04 am
This quote is a very significant one. Franklin Roosevelt said it while campaining against Herbert Hoover (the president at the time the stock market crash). As many know Roosevelt beat Hoover and won election into office. I think that this quote shows that Harper Lee thought was very relevant to her novel. It may have even been this quote that inspired her to write a book. A quote like this could persuade me to write a book. She might have made it the first line because she wants others to understand this quote because it is very relevant to the story. Also the novel took place in the same time that Roosevelt spoke this quote.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
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Molly Buring
11/5/2009 09:54:30 am
I think that Harper Lee put that quote in the book for many reasons. One is to let the reader know the setting of the book because the quote was said by President Roosevelt. Also, i think she put it in there because it really related to the book. The quote, "There's nothing to fear, but fear itself." has many meanings. Like maybe what Roosevelt meant was that theres nothing to be afraid of, except for the expectation of what you're afraid of. And thats relating to the book because Maycomb wasn't being noticed during the hard times. Like the government kind of forgot about them, so they had to deal with themselves and that can bring a lot of fear. And the more they thought of their fear, the more scared they got.
sources: class To Kill a Mockingbird
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Arjun Rajesh
11/21/2009 11:48:02 pm
I think that Harper Lee had many reasons for starting the book with this quote for many reasons. I think that it would be a good idea because it is well known that president Roosevelt said it during the depression. That gives the reader an idea of when the book takes place. I think that this quote is just assuring Maycomb that they do not need to worry the New Deal will end the depression. Fearing fear itself is pretty ridiculous so people think about this and fear less. I think it is some type of pshycology thing.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mocking/quotes.html#explanation3 class discussions
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