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Harry Potter discussion forum for movies, books, and more! - The Leaky Lounge _ Non-HP Book Club: To Kill a Mockingbird _ I dare you!

Posted by: Pyxis Aug 5 2008, 09:48 PM

For ages upon ages, children taunt each other to accomplish tasks that they themselves would never attempt, due to the sheer stupidity/foolishness/silliness of the act. What do you think of 'dares'? Are they just a risky way to establish precedence on the playground, or prepatory acts for the risks that adults must take throughout their lives? Are you a 'daredevil', or do you play it safe?

Posted by: Moose_Starr Aug 9 2008, 05:32 PM

If I had accepted the dare to touch Boo's house it would have been through cowardice not bravery. The only time that I can remember taking a dare was when I was a kid and a couple of my older cousins dared me to knock at the door of some guy that had the reputation of... well, all kinds of fearsome things lol.
I didnt want to because I felt it was wrong and disrespectful but my cousins taunted me for being a coward so I did knock on the door but I dont think I've ever ran away so fast from any place

Posted by: fennip Aug 11 2008, 12:28 AM

Being from the South, and raised in a very small rual community, my friends and I often knocked on doors at night and ran away. And I must say, no where in this book does it talk about those kids having rocksalt fired at them. It wont kill ya, but it does sting, and require alot of explanation to your parents.

Posted by: Floo Commuter Aug 11 2008, 12:54 AM

I don't think the dare had anything to do with bravery, rather it was to see if they were willing to cross the unspoken, forbidden line. The Radley house was that place that was full of mystery and secrecy and no one ever seemed to approach it. The fact that they were unwilling to explain what had happened to the trousers when it all went wrong, showed that the children felt that they had crossed that line. I wouldn't have done it. I like my privacy and respect the privacy of others.

Posted by: VoodooPadfoot Aug 11 2008, 04:27 AM

I think, from my position, I would have definatley taken the dare because I don't really understand what was so scary about it. I think they'd hyped up their own sense of fear.

Posted by: rowena r Aug 11 2008, 11:35 AM

I think I would have taken the dare, though, like Moose, I would have broken many records running back.
I have taken similar dares when I was very young. I remember one very vividly - a boy dared me to go along a dark corridor that was upposed to be haunted and I took it up and crossed it, jumping at the small noises along the way. It seems so silly now, but we really believed that something not of this earth lived there back then and never went there without company.
Taking up and completing the challenge gave me a feeling of euphoria I remember to this day.

Posted by: fawkes28 Aug 11 2008, 06:05 PM

As a kid, I most likely would have taken the dare. We were always wandering around the neighborhood - using our imaginations to entertain ourselves.

A friend and I would watch the tv show Amen through a neighbor's basement window every week at night. We thought we were so cool back then. A neighbor who never came out of his house would have been very interesting.

Posted by: Deathly Hallower Aug 12 2008, 07:50 AM

I don't think I would've done it just because I was a very cautious child when I was younger. I was frightened very easily by things that were deemed "creepy," so I probably would've stayed away.

Posted by: Miss_Talons Aug 21 2008, 08:19 PM

I would have been the child who would have said, "what, are you scared of doing it yourself?" or something to that effect. I would usually do the stuff that no one else wanted to do. So if no one else would take the dare, I would feel obliged to do it myself. I was always the kind of person who would step up when other people didn't want to, and only then take the lead.

I think dares end up being a way to measure your own limits and a place within a group of kids. I used to go to this sailing club when I was younger, and nearly all the children there were around the same age (from two to four years difference), and if you didn't take the dares, you'd be left out very quickly. The result is that we did a lot of stupid things (like throwing alcohol on a fire, or playing and smuggling pieces of lead, jumping from high up places into a filthy sea, crawling and trying to keep balance on small areas by the sea...), but we learned very quickly what we could get away with and what we couldn't, and we were guaranteed to be invited to play with the group the next weekend.

Besides, it's good to keep pushing boundaries as kids. One of the things that's sad is this obsession with health and safety. When I was little, we'd climb this tree at the club, and as we got older we'd go higher and higher up. And we usually knew very well how far up we could go, and if we didn't, well, we'd learn soon enough. I seem to have some very vivid memories of me hanging on for dear life from branches, with my legs dangling desperately as I tried to claw my way back up, or working up the nerve to just drop.