Bandwagoning And Mob Mentality In The Crucible

How many times has one action by one person influenced crowds of people to follow? This scenario has taken place numerous times throughout history. This psychological occurrence is known as “mob mentality”: when a group of people is influenced by a person’s actions to change their behavior and think as a group. During the time period that The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood took place in, the people worked together to deal with any threat to their beliefs. The communities relied on the judgment of their peers, hence why mob mentality was an important aspect of both works. In both pieces of literature, the authors illustrate the hysteria the people of Salem and Northampton experienced, and how they dealt

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and

Remember those Disney movies where the witch had a huge wart on her face? Well that idea came from the Salem Witch Trials. To prove that a person was a witch, people would check for big freckles or moles on their body. This was supposedly a place where evil spirits could stay. During the spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods, which was considered illegal in the Puritan times. When confronted about it, Abigail and Betty start to scream out the names of the witches in the village that made them commit the crime. This started up the accusations of the Salem Witch Trials. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is to blame for the mass hysteria in Salem because she wants to be with John Proctor, she tries to kill Elizabeth, and she tries to save her name.

When an entire crowd is choosing to go down the same path it makes it easy for us to follow the leader, even if the outcome may be against our morals or not truly what we believe is right. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, we see people follow one false accusation with more. Sadly, it’s human nature to choose to make the same decisions and behave similarly as those we are surrounded by. This is distinguished in two ways: mob mentality and mass hysteria. Mob mentality is the behavior of a large crowd who are solely followers. Mass hysteria is a condition affecting a large group, characterized by anxiety, irrational beliefs or behavior, and inexplicable symptoms of illness. All of these signs are very much present in the Salem mass, but when it comes down to it, who was the person that started all of this? Abigail Williams is the one responsible for creating the mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts.

I used pathos to persuade the Montag’s society that being controlled is actually really fun.The person that has a card put in his brain by the government, seems extremely happy and excited about it. I used pathos, to make the audience think that if the person being controlled is happy about it, they probably will be happier too. In the book everybody wants to be happy, Beatty said that.: “People want to be happy, isn't that right? Haven't you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say.” (56) Society wants to be happy, and they think they are but actually they're not. That's why people die from taking pills, or car crashes, because if they would've experienced true happiness they would care about their life, and wouldn't want to end it so easily. All the people are being controlled in Montag’s society, they don't realize and they stay happy. So I used pathos, showing that everybody is happy who's being controlled, and since everybody would do anything to be happy they would obviously allow themselves to be controlled too.I thought that using the bandwagon technique would make the most sense for my meme.The meme shows lots of people standing happily while they're being controlled. Bandwagon is one of the strongest types of logical fallacies that people use to persuade others. They will feel pressure into trying that new thing because everybody does it, they would seem different, not cool or weird if they didn't do it, they don't want to feel left out. Showing how many people allow being controlled makes the audience think that it's totally fun to do since everybody else does it too. In the beginning of the book, even Montag was being controlled. Later on in the book he realized the truth and had enough strength to be able rebel and say that he doesn't want to do this anymore. Even Faber said that he

Human nature is a word describing our reactions to events, our own inner struggles, and our interaction with others, a tendency that every human has in common. (Human Nature in The Crucible) In, The Crucible, several of the characters are constantly feuding, not only among themselves but with the entire community as well. Many citizens spread ridiculous lies and rumors accusing innocent people of being “under the influence” of the devil. The people of Salem fall victim to an eruption of delirium, caused by natural human tendencies. Arthur Miller illustrates blame, majority versus minority, ideology as being natural human tendencies and driving forces to the mass hysteria in the town of Salem.

Imagine feeling lonely, isolated, or like a outcast. Now imagine hundreds of other people cheering, having fun, and with a lot of energy; that is what it is like to be apart of a bandwagon, at first it starts off with one person doing it, then a couple of other people join in and a couple minutes later and everyone is doing it because it is the “cool” thing to do at that moment. The bandwagon effect has been present in many different types of situations whether they are big or small or whether they are noticed or not. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible portrays the bandwagon behavior throughout the book. It is also present in the Greensboro Sit-ins showing that many people came together as a group to accomplish something big.

  “Bandwagon” is to appeal to someone that implying that everyone is doing it(Merriam Webster).   Kochiyama implies something similar, something like, “this is all our problem and we are all effected, so you need to help and take

Often individuals over dramatize their opinion to convey their attitude. Similarly, Danforth often acts extreme in his attempts to rid witchcraft from Salem when he says, “If retaliation is your fear, know this- I [Danforth] should hang ten thousand that dares to rise against the law” (Miller 129). Danforth displays demagoguery while he explains to Reverend Hale why the executions must happen on schedule because he appeals to Hale’s passionate fear of witchcraft. Danforth’s response to Hale works in the scene to further build the audience’s perception of Danforth as irritable and urgent, yet precise, and support his determination as Deputy Governor. However, Danforth’s determination often misguides his rationality. Furthermore, Danforth supports the thematic topic of law in The Crucible and helps the reader understand the severity of justice Miller conveys throughout the play. Danforth’s role develops the play by illustrating the stubbornness of authority in Salem during the witch trials.

of the most common fallacies, named Bandwagon, is usually seen in a lot of stories. Bandwagon

The term “bandwagon” itself originates from a float in a parade that encourages people to jump aboard to celebrate and do things like sing and dance. The first time the term was utilized as a tool in public to influence the opinion of others was in 1884 at the Republican National Convention when candidate Dwight M. Sabin told potential supporters to “get into the bandwagon” as an attempt to gain more followers around his political campaign (Brown). Over time, the connotation surrounding

American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible, implies that witch hunts still exist in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph Mccarthy Trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The central way, however, that Miller achieves his topmost goal of displaying the hazards of Individuality vs. Ideology is through the expressive characterization of Reverend John Hale. John hale is an example of outward conformity because he believes in the devil in the beginning, he sees that the girls are

* Bandwagon- Appeals attempt to persuade the target audience to join in and take the course of action that everyone else is taking.

During the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials many chose to praise and be submissive to those who were accusing, they who choose to submissively praise such evil are known as the cowards. A coward is “a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, ect.” (The Definition of Coward 2016). Though times of persecution such as The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials are intimidating, There are those who stood up to the accuser or accusers they are those who are courageous. Being courageous is “possessing or characterized by courage; brave:”

Have you ever witnessed a social behavior where people do something primarily because others are doing it, regardless of their own beliefs? Well, this behavioral phenomenon is referred to as the “bandwagon effect”, also pejoratively described as the herd effect – people’s tendency to align their beliefs and behaviors with those of a group, regardless of their ideological conviction. While its origin dates back to 1848, used by Dan Rice, an American politician, it soon evolved to the derogatory term – “jump on the bandwagon” – whereby people associated themselves with what they perceived as a success, without considering what they associated themselves with. This level of conformity occurs either because individuals directly prefer to conform or they draw inferences from the decision of others, as in an informational cascade.