A fall from grace, it’s something nobody wants to experience and something people usually don’t want to witness either. Despite that, it’s still something we see all the time.
This is what happens to Cheyanne in the third book of the Adventures of Silver Dove series, Chasing the Sprinter. She was at the top in her school due to being a champion on the track team. Her fall came from an injury that would keep her from competing in nationals. Even though she was loved before, she was beaten down after her injury.
If not many people like seeing a fall from grace situation, then why do we beat those people down? Well let’s take a look back at the original theory brought up in the previous post, Bullying in the Mind. That theory examines bullying as a constant competition for dominance. With that theory in mind, let’s look at a fall from grace.
If a person falls from grace, that usually means that they were up somewhere high to fall from, so this means that they are usually someone above average in some way. Someone usually untouchable when it comes to bullying. Once this fall from grace situation happens though, this provides a rare opportunity. This gives everyone the chance to beat down someone who used to be on the top, thus making them feel as if they are rising a bit higher since this person used to be above them. This can be comparable to a pack of hyenas ganging up on a lion while it is injured. They have the opportunity to attack a usually more strong opponent while it is weak.
This can commonly be seen when someone who is famous gets caught in some kind of scandal. This gives everyone, from regular people to tabloids, the opportunity to beat them down just because of a mistake, a fall from grace.