Examples Of Mob Hysteria

A society that praises moral righteousness and piety is destroyed by a series of witch trials that are ironically immoral and unfair. The Salem Witch Trials are fueled by personal motives and feuds that emerge because of the restrictions in Puritan society. The society nurtures a culture of fear and distrust that stems from dread of the devil and strict adherence to the Bible. Salem is the perfect environment for fear and vengeance to spread through witchcraft accusations, because people have no other means to gain power or get revenge on enemies. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays how the Puritan society in Salem influences the witch trials and increases their impact, because of the religion-based justice system, women and

Do you know what mass hysteria is? Mass hysteria is a condition that affects large group of people by behaviors, beliefs, anxiety, and symptoms of illness. Some examples of a mass hysteria are the Killing of John F. Kennedy, in the Middle Ages the case of Mewing and Biting Nuns, and the Indian Alien Attack. Most recognizable is The Holocaust with the murdering of Jews, and the Japanese- American Internment Camp during World War II. The famous Salem Witch Trials is an earlier example of mass hysteria and the killing of innocent people.

“The little crazy children are jangling the keys to the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law now.” In Arthur Miller’s dramatic tragedy, “The Crucible”, he examines how mass hysteria has effected people throughout the ages, with the idea that one accusation can change a life instantly. Mass hysteria led to the tragic events of The Crucible because the power and leadership that comes with making accusations can have a dramatic impact on a community. The story also illustrates how people would rather kill others than get killed themselves.

During the Salem Witch Trials, there was a time of hysteria; everyone was accusing everyone, and no one could defend themselves. What the accusers didn’t realize, was that that they all had a common motive behind their accusations, and that was power. The power in a Puritan society was only given to specific people, but by making accusations, it could be gained. This wasn’t just specific to this time period though, because throughout different time periods, power has always come with status, and no matter a person’s position in society, status wants to be gained. In The Crucible, the struggle for power is made evident through characters and their subliminal actions during the witch trials, which reveals that power is held within the church,

Within “The Crucible”, Arthur Miller presents the effects of hysteria by using the witch trials of Salem to show friends and family turning against each other because of mass hysteria and fear. One of the major themes of “The Crucible” is hysteria and fear. From the quote, we can gather that a Devil is in Salem, yet Revernd Hale speaks of a much more dangerous thing called hysteria. He speaks of frightening proofs in the court, pointing to the bandwagon of the courtroom where

Innocent people are accused for things they may not have done-this brings fear to everyone around them, and no one will feel safe to do anything. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there are many people being accused of wrongdoing for actions they may have not done. The Crucible tells a story of a group of young girls dancing in the woods. They are accused of calling for the devil-they chose people who they feel may be attached to the devil and wrongfully accuse them. In a more recent event many people in the city of Jordan, Minnesota are accused of being involved with sexual assault. When heavy events occur in a town, the people are quick to come to conclusions, which will take forth many people

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is a play that replicates the actual events of the Salem Witch Trials. The event is considered mass hysteria because there was a vast group of people who were behaving completely irrationally. The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts throughout 1962 and 1963. Salem was a theocratic town, meaning their laws were derived from religion. Children dancing in the woods with Tituba, the slave of the town Reverend, led to accusations of witchcraft because dancing was thought of as the devil's work. There were, of course, a few members of Salem who did not believe in witchcraft, but their opinions were ignored. The reason this became a hysteria is, all one had to in order to get someone arrested for witchcraft was state their name. These accusations then became a way to get revenge on someone who had done wrong to them. The large number of victims of the Salem Witch Trials, and the speed and senselessness of the spreading of accusations, makes this event a tragic part of our history.

What is mass hysteria? The word mass is describing a group as a whole meaning there is more than one person involved. In most instances one person influences another like a domino effect. Humans cannot help when they catch a cold from someone else but it is also common nature to be easily persuaded by others. Hysteria is the sense of madness. It can be a case of psychological illness or a fad that many people panic about at the same time. Mass hysteria can be described as the appearance of something, in a group of people that may be involved in a cluster of things; relating to physical symptoms referring to an organic illness but resulting from a mental case (“A case of Mass hysteria”). Furthermore, a contagious mental disorder is defined as the organized occurrence of a group of physical symptoms and similar beliefs amongst a number of individuals without a recognizable reason(“A case of Mass hysteria”). This outbreak of temporary madness can happen anywhere but is seen in early colonial America illness among young girls in Salem, MA are attributed to witches curses(“A case of Mass hysteria”).

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do? Well, in The Crucible, a lot of people were accused of something that they didn’t do. Then it becomes a game that everyone blames one another for their own selfish needs. In the story, things got complicated and when everyone noticed, it was too late. A lot of people died and no one could stop it anymore. Even after everyone noticed, they couldn’t do anything against the judges. The Crucible is an good example of mass hysteria along with the events in The Halifax Slasher. They both show similar events but are different because of their setting in history.

In the novel by Arthur Miller, “The Crucible”, directly correlates with the Red Scare by implementing a society that is in fear of the people around them and people are given consequences from crimes they did not even commit. The play is about witchcraft and is based around what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. The rumors spread from each other made havoc throughout the community. Most of the rumors spread throughout the play are for people to achieve their own goals of protection and/or revenge. One could claim that rumors are the root of all trouble in “The Crucible” in the 16th paragraph of the overture that, “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom. In the novel Abigail Williams, the Putnams, and Elizabeth Proctor contribute to some of the rumors that went around.

In The Crucible, people suddenly turn on each other and accuse people they have known for a long time of practicing witchcraft and worshiping the devil. The town of Salem falls into hysteria, a condition where the whole town can not trust anyone anymore. In order to explain why so many people are afraid, the community begins to believe that the fear must have a definite origin(s). Miller demonstrates persecution and grudges in a tense manner. He grabs the readers attention by these fast paced accusations and the emotions that the characters feel. Grudges and dissatisfaction lead to many hysterias of accusations and bewitching and they all are chaotic and crazy. Some lead to deaths and others lead to arguments and dissatisfaction. Either way nothing good has come from the grudges and accusations in this book.

When a team fails, they are often quick to blame a single player while when in reality the fault lies with them all. This everyday scenario can be related to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which takes place in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. The antagonist of the story is Abigail Williams who begins the accusations of witchcraft, which soon causes hysteria and paranoia in Salem. However, the damage cannot be attributed to one character. In the Crucible, the town is to blame for the Salem Witch Trials because of its strict Puritan background, the widespread feelings of vengeance, and because it is easily gullible and consequently puts strength to meaningless accusations.

What is mass hysteria? It is a condition in which a large group of people exhibit similar physical or emotional symptoms, such as anxiety or extreme excitement. In the Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials take place. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1642 in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. The Crucible and the Salem Witch Trials is a notable example of mass hysteria. One example of mass hysteria was in 1994, The Toxic Lady. The Toxic Lady was a woman whose body and blood made the workers at Riverside General Hospital fall ill. But, when doctors and professionals took a closer look in the situation; they found out that mass hysteria has taken

The fear of being accused causes the townspeople to go around accusing others for self-preservation. The time period that The Crucible took place is one of fear and anxiety, with people desperately wondering if they are the next people to be accused and hung. Accusation commonly lead to imprisonment or court trials, and failure to confess led to death. That fear of being accused and death caused people to turn on one another in order to protect themselves as a form of defense. For instance, when Hale continuously questions Tituba about her relationship with the devil, Tituba eventually breaks down and accuses other people to save her own skin (Miller 44 - 47). Such events happen various times in the story, where someone would accuse another for self-preservation. In the article “Scary Clown Rumors” written by the Washington Post, fear also causes people to revert to defensive behavior. However, the people work together rather than go around pointing fingers and making up accusations. The fear of death as well as losing their reputation fuels the drive to accuse others. Reputation played a huge role in The Crucible, and losing it was almost as bad as death. Additionally, witches were essentially being used as a scapegoat, quite similar to the article “Extended Forecast: Bloodshed”, where witches are also used as scapegoats in order to explain things such as bad weather, crop failure, etc. This emotion of horror and panic was what caused such a widespread terror that the masses began to accuse others and look for

In Arthur Miller’s short play The Crucible, one is swept on a world pool of adventures through the rampant society of the Puritans. As the plot begins to unfold, the reader is able to detect a shift in the society as the fear of witches living amongst the community compounds tensions already formed. Tension occurs in various occasions throughout the play such as neighbors arguing over one another for land, Abigail’s group of followers foreshadowing her every move and following through with her surplus demands, or even Abigail sparking the commonality of lying about seeing people with the devil. On numerous accounts one can see characters such as Abigail, Proctor, and Putnam disregard the outcomes that stem from their actions and the punishments endured by others as a result. It is evident that the effect of one’s actions on another is irrelevant and discarded when attempting to escape a problem prevalent within one’s life.