Why did Simba believe Scar for such a long time?

[Fozz]

[quote="PrincessKiara"]In Simba`s mind, he had no reason NOT to believe Scar.

Scar does tell him "if it weren`t for you, your father would still be alive." Simba interprets this as: "your father died saving you. If you hadn`t needed saving, he would still be alive." I know it was Scars fault that Simba was in the gorge to begin with, but being a small cub at the time, Simba would not have been able to do the math on this one. He was overcome with shock, grief and guilt.. He even says "the wildebeest..he tried to save me.. it was an accident, I didn`t mean for it to happen!" So even before Scar puts the blame on him, Simba has already blamed himself for his fathers death.

But anyway, like I said.. Simba had no reason to think anything Scar told him was a lie.[/quote]

I understand that, but my question was why Simba kept believing that even after he grew up, and after he heard bad things about Scar.

[PrincessKiara]

[quote="Fozz"][quote="PrincessKiara"]In Simba`s mind, he had no reason NOT to believe Scar.

Scar does tell him "if it weren`t for you, your father would still be alive." Simba interprets this as: "your father died saving you. If you hadn`t needed saving, he would still be alive." I know it was Scars fault that Simba was in the gorge to begin with, but being a small cub at the time, Simba would not have been able to do the math on this one. He was overcome with shock, grief and guilt.. He even says "the wildebeest..he tried to save me.. it was an accident, I didn`t mean for it to happen!" So even before Scar puts the blame on him, Simba has already blamed himself for his fathers death.

But anyway, like I said.. Simba had no reason to think anything Scar told him was a lie.[/quote]

I understand that, but my question was why Simba kept believing that even after he grew up, and after he heard bad things about Scar.[/quote]

He lacked insight. His emotions, fear, guilt and shame were clouding his judgment and prevented him from realizing that Scar was a bad person. Simba was simply too wrapped up in his own issues to understand that Scar was evil, and so Simba never thought to put Scars words or actions into question.

[SummerSnowLeopard]

Exactly

[SweetNala]

I guess Simba tried to "forget" and didn't think about it much.

[Question]

I say ignorance.

[Regulus]

I think he actually did question his guilt. Or else, why would he have gone back to pride rock to begin with?

Although, I still don't understand why he doesn't fully explain what happened before he says he is responsible for Mufasa's death. Admitting it was his fault without explaining why is the dumbest thing he's done. The rest of his behavior is understandable.

[DGFone]

[quote="Question"]I say ignorance.[/quote]
Exactly. I think he did think about it a few times, but before he could conclude that it wasn't his fault (and after what Scar told him, and his roaring before the stampede, it's easy for him to see how it was his fault), Timon and Pumbaa would always come in and "save the day" by making Simba forget about his past.

Meaning that because of Hakuna Matata, Simba didn't have a chance to think things over once he was ready to. Before Hakuna Matata really took over him, he wasn't ready to conclude anything, but once he was old enough, he was living The Life with Timon and Pumbaa.

[TheLionPrince]

I think Simba believed Scar when he told him he was responsible for Mufasa's death because he thought his "little roar" in the gorge caused the wildebeest stampede. Simba noticed the instant he performed his little roar, his voice echoed, and in his mind, it caused little peebles to start shaking, and the stampede to erupt. So, when Scar told him, "If it weren't for you, he'd still be alive", Simba is thinking because his roar erupted the stampede, it caused Mufasa to go in to save him, and the forces of the stampede was too much for Mufasa to handle.

Also, I think Simba didn't question his belief he killed his father because he didn't see Scar kill Mufasa. In this pencil test version of the stampede, we see Simba just reached the top of the cliff seeing Mufasa falling into the stampede so we know for sure, he didn't see Scar betray Mufasa. I kind of wished the filmmakers kept that little scene. But, since they did remove that brief clip, I still conclude Simba didn't see Scar push Mufasa off the cliff.

Finally, like Amanda said, Simba trusted Scar because he was his relative. So, that's why Simba believed Scar for a number of years. As said by SweetNala and DGFone wrote, Simba tried to forget what happened, and when he was old enough to question his belief, he was so into the Hakuna Matata lifestyle, which made him not think about at all.

[NalaKiaraTani]

Hmm... You make a very valid point here. It should have been kinda of obvioius after a while to Simba that it wasn't COMPLETELY his fault Mufassa died. All he did like it has been stated was roar at the lizard. Even so, the roar of a lion cub could not cause a wildebeast stampeed when the wildabeasts were so far away

[WindAnnWise]

He just hid all the guilt and pain and everything inside because of Hakuna Matata. Love the deep thinking threads!