The google definition states that fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. The question is, why is fear so inevitable in everyday life if it is known to be so unpleasant? Well, human nature causes us all to ask what if; “What if something bad will happen to me?” or “What if I will look weak?” Although there is no hiding from fear, it can be conquered by our own willpower. Together, everyone could make this world a better place if our motives did not come from uncertainty and fright. 

The true power that fear holds has the ability to make us all monsters. It can make people act in irrational ways such as refraining from standing up for important issues or even pulling a trigger. We see a perfect example of this in the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Following the bomb on Pearl Harbor, the United States government became afraid. They had the fear that their citizens of Japanese descent would cause chaos and harm to their country. Therefore, they voted and discussed with the element of fear in mind which caused the Japanese Americans to be stripped of their right to freedom. Not only did the government turn their people against the whole Japanese ethnic group, but they also sent them to camps where they were to drop everything in their names. 

Fear can otherwise be known as a shield that is placed in front of our eyes. It truly forces us to be blind from any morals or ethics that we have grown up with and are told to live by. However, if we did not base our decisions and thought processes on fear, life could be unimaginably different. If the U.S. government did not lead with fear in the time period of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, discrimination and hate in the world could have been lessened back then as well as right now. Despite the fact that we cannot blame the Asian hate in our present-day solely on this event, it simply adds to the multiple occurrences in history that have led to the one that we are facing now. Therefore, fear is not the answer. Fear intercedes. Fear destructs. Fear is an unwanted presence that shows us time after time that only bad can come out of it.