As the children approach and observe the mob scene unfold, Scout, being young, does not share the same fears Jem does. In fact, she's not certain exactly why Jem is afraid that Atticus may be in danger. Hence, when Atticus responds, "Do you really think so?" to one of the mob member's statement that the sheriff being off in the woods on a wild-goose chase changes Atticus's ability and need to defend Tom Robinson...
As the children approach and observe the mob scene unfold, Scout, being young, does not share the same fears Jem does. In fact, she's not certain exactly why Jem is afraid that Atticus may be in danger. Hence, when Atticus responds, "Do you really think so?" to one of the mob member's statement that the sheriff being off in the woods on a wild-goose chase changes Atticus's ability and need to defend Tom Robinson from the mob, Scout thinks he is playing some sort of game of whits and happily bounds out of hiding to greet him. Scout phrases her young line of thinking in the following:
This was the second time I heard Atticus ask that question in two days, and it meant somebody's man would get jumped. This was too good to miss. I broke away from Jem and ran as fast as I could to Atticus. (Ch. 15)
Even once she is in the midst of the mob, Scout still doesn't feel Jem's fear; instead, she only feels embarrassed to find herself in the midst of a crowd of strangers, not in the midst of the same crowd of friends who had gathered in Atticus's lawn the night before. Scout's brave actions that serve to break up the mob stem from a combination of her youthful embarrassment and her efforts to show politeness.
Standing on the steps of the jail, Scout searched the mob until she found a familiar face, that of Walter Cunningham. She instantly greets him and asks him, "How's your entailment gettin' along?" because she knows it's the polite thing to do. When he doesn't respond, she introduces herself and reminds him that his son, Walter Cunningham Jr. is in her class, asking Mr. Cunningham to say "hey" for Walter for her. When he still doesn't respond, she goes back to talking about his entailment, saying, "Entailments are bad," because she remembers Atticus once told her it is polite to "talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in." She continues forth to remind Mr. Cunningham that Atticus had once promised he and Mr. Cunningham would "ride [his entailment] out together." All of these attempts at conversation are simply Scout's way of being polite, not realizing the extent of the imminent danger.
Scout's youthful, naive attempt at making polite conversation with Mr. Cunningham inadvertently serves to break up the mob. Scout inadvertently breaks up the mob by reminding Mr. Cunningham of his humanity, first by being polite, second by empathizing with his plight due to his entailment, and third by reminding him of the amount of respect he has for Atticus. Scout's actions before the mob show us just how much childlike innocence can accomplish, especially when such innocence reflects polite and empathetic behavior.
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