Essay About Fear in Literature

Fear affects everyone. It has the power to either push us or prohibit us from doing whatever we want and need to do. Public speaking is one of my biggest fears. When I get in front of a crowd my hands become clammy, my voice quivers, and I start sweating as if I’ve been running in a marathon. But once I’m done with a presentation, I wonder why I was anxious in the first place. I was able to do this presentation because once I started talking, everything flowed out naturally which allowed me to forget the overwhelming feeling I had a couple of minutes ago. Fear can either be our best friend or our worst enemy. When deciding whether fear can be good or bad, it can be difficult to come to a conclusion. However, fear controls our emotions to the point where it can become harmful to ourselves, society, and those around us.

Fear can affect people mentally and physically. In the article “What are you so afraid of?” by Akiko Busch, the author addresses how people commonly focus on temporary worries rather than long lasting worries. In the middle of the text, the author states that fear “harbors an abiding anxiety” (19). Fear impacts our body in a negative aspect. It can lead to damage in our physical well being, our memory, our brain reactivity, and most of all lead to poor mental health. Fear drains us to the point where we become emotionally unavailable. In the same article but on page 18 paragraph 1, the author states that fear’s “origins are unclear”. No one can really determine where it can come from. Fear of the unknown can lead to an immense amount of anxiety and constant existential crisis. Not knowing where fear can come from, harms our mental well being. Fear not only torments ourselves but can harm our society as a whole.

When society is fearful, it can lead to bad decision-making. In the excerpt, “Farewell to Manzanar” by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston the author(s) share their personal experience as a Japanese-American who grew up in an internment camp. In the middle of the excerpt the author(s) states, “The “yes yes(s)” were to be thrown into an “American society” that will be “full of wartime hostility and racial hate” (709). The Japanese-Americans who voted “Yes” on the two questions that were asked were returned back to their hometown. The problem is that when they returned, Japanese-Americans weren’t exactly “welcomed back”. They faced terrible racial commentary and hate which ultimately divided them from society. Americans used their fear to treat Japanese-Americans this way. Fear was the tactic Americans used to threaten and make sure Japanese-Americans felt unwelcome once they returned. In the same article, it states that the U.S. were so fearful of Japanese people that they imprisoned “120,000 Japanese Americans” (705) in internment camps. Since America was fearful of Japanese-Americans, they sent them to internment camps to make sure that they don’t turn their back on America and decide to side with their home country. By doing this, America chose to base their decisions on fear and irrationality rather than using logic on how to overcome the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. Fear not only harms society but those around us as well.

Fear harms the people around us. In the play “The Crucible'' by Arthur Miller, the author uses his play to showcase the Salem Witch Trials to show how fear played a big role in the accusations against each character. In the middle of the play, Mary Warren tells Abigail that they must “tell the truth” about what really happened in the forest. Abigail immediately shuts her down by saying “we’ll be whipped!” (Act 1 pgs 574-574) . By Abigail refusing to allow any of the girls to tell the truth, their lies ultimately escalate to the point where they can’t stop. Their decision eventually leads to the demise of many people in Salem. This matters because their one “unharmful” little lie, caused the entirety of Salem to be affected and become fearful of witchcraft. In the same play, but in Act four, Elizabeth tells her husband John that a “hundred or more” (670)  people have confessed to involvement with witchcraft. The people in Salem are so frightened to be accused of witchcraft that they would rather confess and betray their Puritan beliefs than to be hanged. Their fear shows the domino effect this situation had on them. All of the evidence shown proves how fear can be harmful.

Fear has the power to control our emotional state to the extent where it can be detrimental to oneself, society, and with others. It is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Although fear might be a good way for someone to be alert, it causes more tension and anxiety than anything.