The Anatomy of a Rumor

I love the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. It is one of the few books that I have read over and over again. Each time the story stirs my fascination. To date, no book has shown me such a stark, yet simple, contrast between the most honorable and the most deplorable of human attributes. Every story, big or small, within the novel touches on some of life’s most important lessons. As of late, I have been drawn to one of the lesser storylines from the book. This story goes mostly unnoticed, and it is mentioned sparingly in the book. Nevertheless, it is a powerful story and it deserves a look. It is the story of Mr. Dolphus Raymond.

Much like the rest of the characters in the novel, Dolphus Raymond lived in Maycomb Alabama. Maycomb, as described by the author, was a tired old town in the 1920’s. For the most part, neighbors knew one another; or at least they pretended to. Like other small towns, word of mouth travelled fast. Topics of discussion mostly revolved around the day-to-day happenings of the county. Maycomb citizens seemed only mildly interested in any news from outside the county. Instead, local discussion was driven by gossip regarding the Radley family myth, Mrs. Dubose’s health, and most recently, the Tom Robinson trial. The life of anyone and everyone was open to scrutiny and assumption. To Dolphus Raymond, the hearsay and postulation was as predictable as the daily sunrise.

Wherever Dolphus Raymond goes, silent whispers always follow. His outward appearance and strange lifestyle make him an easy topic for casual group banter. On the surface, he appears mildly ragged and unkempt. In his hand, he always carries a bottle carefully concealed in a brown paper bag. An occasional stagger gives any onlooker a hint as to the contents of the wrapped bottle. Every visual evidence proves that he is hygienically and socially unfit for normal life.

Of course, Maycomb knows why Dolphus was left to suffer in this current state. Once you considered his life at home, it became obvious why he relies on booze. Unlike the rest of the white Maycomb citizenry, Dolphus resides in the black neighborhood alongside his black mistress and mulatto children. At a time when racism and bigotry still reigned supreme, such a lifestyle was unacceptable. A man would have had to have fallen far in order to live such a lowly existence.

Such was the life of Dolphus. Once in a while, the small town of Maycomb would watch him wander aimlessly and rest lazily downtown. Then they would watch as he left town on the road to his squalor home and second class family. He became an example; an opportunity for parents to show their children the face of repugnance and drudgery. Townsfolk kept their distance, and Dolphus kept his. Up until the trial of Tom Robinson, not much else is known or explained about Dolphus. Were it not for a chance encounter with the novel’s main character, Dolphus’ story would have gone untold.

Following a session of the controversial Tom Robinson trial, the young boy Dill leaves the courthouse sobbing. Visibly bothered by the injustice and unfairness of the trial, both he and Scout Finch sit under the shade of a large nearby oak tree. Unbeknownst to the children, Dolphus shares the same tree with them. He surprises the children when he speaks to them. Dolphus offers a swig of his drink to the still-crying Dill, promising that it will settle him down. Against the ominous warnings from Scout, Dill takes a drink from the brown paper bag. However, he does not taste alcohol. To his surprise, and delight, he finds the bottle is actually full of Coca-Cola.

Their discovery of the Coca-Cola sparks the curiosity of the children. Unlike the rumors they have heard, they discover that he does not smell like a vagrant. Instead, they notice a pleasant earthy smell of “leather, horses, and cottonseed.” Little by little, the real story of Mr. Dolphus Raymond unravels itself. Not only is he not a drunkard, but Dolphus doesn’t drink at all. Further questioning reveals that he lives a very happy life, enjoys the company of a caring woman, and he loves his children very much. Eventually, all the rumors surrounding the mysterious man erode away. Suddenly, the reader begins to recognize that all the falsehoods were simply the result of presumptuous rumors and wild speculation. It turns out the truth was much less spectacular than the word around town.

The experience of Dolphus Raymond teaches us a lot about the lifecycle of rumors and their impact on individuals and communities. By logical standards, Dolphus was a successful man. He had some wealth, a happy family, and he lived healthily. But none of that mattered. To the residents of Maycomb, a person could never attain happiness or success with Dolphus’ lifestyle. Therefore, the life of Dolphus Raymond needed an explanation. As a result, the community fabricated a narrative and distributed it throughout the entire town.

If at any point in your life you experience success, you may find yourself facing the same conditions as Dolphus Raymond. While we have certainly progressed as a society since the 1920’s, an astonishing number of people have held firm to the practice of rumor mongering. The same type of people fabricate them, the same type of people believe them, and the same type of people fall victim to them. A rumor cycle will always have a victim, a fabricator, and a patsy.

Understanding who these people are and how they contribute or relate to the rumor cycle will help you comprehend the who, the why, and the how of a rumor cycle. From that angle of understanding, you can better withstand the seedy speculations and the farfetched falsehoods bent on ruining your reputation and good name.  

The Victim

Would you like to know one of the single best metrics for gauging personal success? Do you often lay awake at night pondering your life choices? Would you like me to stop asking these cheesy infomercial questions? If you said yes to any of these questions, then rumors are for you. In many cases, the degree to which rumors circulate about you is equivalent to the degree of life success you have achieved. So if you find yourself the victim of a wildly false accusation, you might want to consider it a sign that you are doing something right.

If it is true that success breeds contempt, then it would make sense why rumors take aim at successful people. In the eyes of weaker and lesser men, success needs to be explained away. The underlying assumption hints that rumor targets are underserving of their success; that they achieved it by means of deceit, corruption, or luck. In some form or another, they have violated a natural or artificial law. The rumor is simply a way to accomplish justice and hopefully strip the offender of their unwarranted success.

But successful people remain successful, even in the aftermath of rumors. Rarely do they let falsehoods derail their plans, ambitions, and objectives. They seem to swat rumors away like harmless gnats. How do such people manage to turn slanderous tales into insignificant annoyances? It is simple really. Successful people refuse to play the role of victim.

In reality, rumor victims are not really victims at all. Though they may be the intended target, the victim most often receives the least damage in a rumor cycle. For a brief time they may have to suffer the indignity and inconvenience of injurious gossip. To a certain degree, they may lose business, prosperity, even friends. In some cases, the effects may last for years. However, by the time the cycle has run its course and they have arrived at total vindication, the intended victim will emerge from the ordeal relatively unscathed. Their friendships that have lasted will deepen, their resolve to achieve success will be increased, and their sense of self-worth will solidify. If managed correctly, a victim’s experience with rumors can make them stronger over time.

The Fabricator

 Rumors do not spontaneously erupt from empty space. A rumor must be created and carefully designed. A purposeless rumor is nothing more than an imagined assumption. Without a scheming entity to transform thoughts and theories into false facts, rumors would lose their potency and achieve little. Such an entity is known as a fabricator.

Fabricators are the ones who envision, devise, and distribute scandal and controversy. A fabricator earns their title because they have a sharpened ability to take paltry clues and fabricate them into complex narratives that attempt to both condemn and destroy. The most experienced of fabricators don’t even need distorted evidences in order to build their network of lies. All that they need is an imagination, an audience, and an incentive.

Fabricators often possess a passionate ambition that flirts with outright fanaticism. That ambition could be political power, community influence, justification for personal fallibility, self-appointed moral authority, or any number of things. Their ambition consumes them, pushing them to disregard truth, morality, and goodwill. Such virtuous ideals have little value in their eyes. They are necessary casualties in the crusade for self-aggrandizement.

The actions of a fabricator are loathsome. For the sake of their aspirations, they adorn themselves with a mantle of feigned power and concern. To an unsuspecting patsy, they appear authoritative, concerned, and empathetic. Their public cries preach justice, unity, and progress. But their backdoor mutterings build false narratives and blatant lies. They are wholly disinterested in anyone or anything that does not support their self-preservation and influence.

The lifestyle of a fabricator deserves a high degree of revulsion. Their behavior tears apart relationships, destroys livelihoods, and sows seeds of contention. Their sharp words are the words of a disgruntled reprobate. However, once you take a step back to look at their personal situation, one thing becomes vividly clear: fabricators are as pitiful as they are loathsome.

A number of social psychology studies have been published that deal with the rumor cycle. Many of them seek to explain why rumors start and how they grow. Several studies seem to follow the explanation for rumorfabrication set forth by social psychologist Ralph L. Rosnow. He describes the fabricators situation as follows:

Rumormongering is viewed as an attempt to deal with anxieties and uncertainties by generating and passing stories and suppositions that can explain things, address anxieties, and provide a rationale for behavior. (Rosnow, Yost, & Esposito, 1986)

Or in other words, rumors come from people who struggle with deep-seeded self-esteem and security issues. Their feigned importance and influence only serves as a cover for their crippling cowardice. Fabricators use rumor to explain away their own deficiencies. They hope that their slander will somehow remedy or minimize their own weaknesses by highlighting a phony fault of someone else.

Fabricators who spread lies regarding your marriage will likely struggle with their own marital problems.

Fabricators who anonymously accuse you of mistreating employees will probably have a history of cheating and defrauding their own associates.

Fabricators who slander your company for shady business practices will usually dabble in poor business ethics themselves.

We find fabricator behavior utterly inexcusable, but not entirely unexplainable. They have reasons for sowing the seeds of contention and ill will. Once you understand those reasons, their barbs become less injurious and their situation becomes more pitiable.

If you are a fabricator, stop yourself now. The damage your words cause to your own reputation will be nearly irreparable. I urge you to look at your own life. Sort out your own problems. Celebrate the success of others. Sympathize with their failures. If you notice another person struggling, seek a way to help them rather seeking a way to cripple them further. Doing so will stimulate improvement in your own life, and generate a source for good in the lives of others.

The Patsy

Finally, we turn our attention to the final participant in the rumor cycle. Many perceive their role in the rumor cycle as limited and passive. We often believe their only crime is to innocently listen and pass on gossip from one source to another. For the most part, the patsy appears harmless. In the rush of the rumor cycle, they convert from innocent bystander to naïve participant. However, a closer look at the patsy reveals that their role in the cycle is sometimes far more serious and sinister than we assume.

What makes the patsy such an egregious participant? For starters, their hunger for sensation and drama creates a high demand for myths and conspiracies. The patsy craves rumors. For one reason or another, they feel privy to the privacy of others. A patsy loves to know everyone else’s business. They sit on the edge of their seats waiting for the next meltdown, the next train wreck, or the next epic collapse. To them, no other news is more desirable than someone else’s bad news.

Do you recognize now why the patsy is so problematic? Patsies provide the fuel that bolsters the flames of contention and lies. Without them, the fabricators power amounts to nothing more than a miniscule spark. But if that spark happens to contact a volatile and reactionary patsy, the combination could potentially create firestorms of gossip.

The most aggressive patsies closely mirror their fabricator peers in terms of motivation and ambition. They may not initiate the rumor. However, they relish the opportunity to pass it along. They often add their own batch of misinformation. They attempt to inject their own personal spin on the rumor, hoping that their additions will further damage and incriminate the victim. Like the envious fabricator, they too enjoy the belittlement and smearing of others whom they find undeserving of success. These more aggressive patsies are the soldiers of slander. They are the disciples of defamation.

Not every patsy achieves this level of envy or malice. The majority feel content with passing along the gossip. The commotion intrigues them. However, they are not altogether innocent. They also fall for the same baseless hearsay, caring little or nothing for the people involved. Their gullible nature buys into the false narratives and swirling accusations spread by everyone else. As such, they tend to make very poor decisions, using the rumors as reference or basis. Their hasty decisions terminate friendships and business relationships. Instead of yielding to basic common sense, they place a higher value on sensationalism and dramatization.

If you are a patsy, now is the time to change course. Take news from the primary source and don’t take second hand stories as gospel. When speculating about the character of others, you immediately put your own character into question. You have much more to lose than the fabricator. In addition to your reputation, you risk losing friends, opportunity, and security. Changing course will provide you with a clearer mind, an observant eye, and a genuine heart.

Dealing with Rumors

Once you have considered the components, forces, and parties involved in the rumor cycle, such situations may easily overwhelm you. Injurious lies from shameless reprobates can quickly morph into autonomous viruses bent on ruin. Watching the cycle play out may leave you hurt and confused. Though it may seem so, you are not helpless in combatting falsehoods. You can, and should, react to them appropriately and decisively.

While on tour in the South Pacific, Elder Marvin J. Ashton took every possible opportunity to meet with the Latter-Day Saint missionaries serving in that part of the world. In one meeting, a group of concerned missionaries approached him, seeking counsel on a problem that they were experiencing on their local island.

Handing Elder Ashton a selection of pamphlets, they explained to the apostle that a preacher had been publishing and distributing the pamphlets in their area. The missionaries were astonished at the audacity of the rumors and worried that the malicious lies that might spread. They wondered how best they could combat the published material. Many felt that a retaliatory campaign would best confront the tide of false information.

Elder Ashton glanced at the pamphlets, visibly amused by their contents. To the surprise of the missionaries, he chuckled as he read the accusations against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Now even more confused, the missionaries posited their question again: what should they do about the problem?

Elder Ashton’s response revealed to the missionaries, and to all of us, how we can best combat the rumor cycle.

“To the author of these words,” he answered, “we do nothing.  We have no time for contention. We only have time to be about our Father’s business. Contend with no man. Conduct yourselves as gentlemen with calmness and conviction and I promise you success.”

When sharp and forceful retaliation seems like the most natural and simple response, we are counseled to do just the opposite: Do nothing. You have not time for contention.

When faced with an unsavory rumor cycle, you should continue on. Do not allow such things to disrupt your routines, goals, or good works. Allowing it to disrupt your life accomplishes the objective of the rumor monger and prevents you from accomplishing your own objectives. If you are doing good works, you really don’t have any time for contention.

Some may feel that the “Do Nothing” strategy amounts to sitting on the sideline or rolling over to die. In reality, the strategy calls us to action and not inaction. It is a call to focus our efforts on more worthy endeavors. Rather than openly confronting the slander, you should let your actions do the talking for you. Do not spend your time putting out meaningless fires. Do not publicly campaign or complain against the fabricators or patsies. Adding more contention to the mix only validates the opinions of the rumor mongers.

This strategy requires plenty of courage. Ironically, this strategy demands that you place a lot of trust in people. You must trust that that rational and reasonable people will not have their good judgement subverted by sensationalism. Some people may betray that trust, even your friends. However, friends worth their weight in gold will not pay any heed to falsehoods. Such friends will vehemently defend your character. When you don’t say much about the subject, these friends will. In your absence, they will fight your fights.

If you handle yourself well during the chaos of a rumor cycle, you will indeed find success. Once you have arrived at vindication, the fabricators and patsies will be exposed, your name will be cleared, and things will have settled once more. At that point, the promise offered by Elder Ashton will be fulfilled:

Conduct yourselves as [ladies and] gentlemen with calmness and conviction and I promise you success.