Fear is perhaps the strongest force within humans- something that is an undeniable influence on our decision making process, whether those decisions may be major or minor. Fear comes into play both consciously and subconsciously; both practically and non practically; it is not always 100% apparent but it is the drive behind so much more of our thought process than we actually realize. This is not only human nature but the nature of animals, too. It is a force we cannot escape, whether is comes in reflexes or is something we avidly dwell on, so we’ve instead explored and embraced the wonders of this thing called fear. Every single fear known to man is stemmed and derived from five basic fears. This sounds crazy considering anyone can have a …show more content…
With the knowledge that a group of people all attain the same fears, it becomes quite accessible to cause mass hysteria by playing into those very fears. One of the most well known examples of this is the time period of the Salem witch trials. If it had not been for the irrational fears of witchcraft, the whole ordeal could have been avoided. But the mere fear of it taking place drove a whole society into panic and paranoia, leading to the hangings of many innocent people just to ensure “safety” amongst the community. This just goes to show how far people will go when being driven by fear. The Crucible perfectly depicts just how the Salem Witch trials took place, as the progression of hysteria within Salem is laid out throughout the plot in a way that reflects just how much fear was an influencer in that time. In The Crucible, Abigail uses the fears of witchcraft within the community to give her leverage and build a reputation- “The Deputy Governer promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess, John. The Town’s gone wild, I think”. Here, Elizabeth speaks of how mad the town of Salem has gone simply based off of Abigail’s words- to the point where hangings start taking place. It is almost too easy for her to implant this idea of witchcraft into the community’s head, displaying just how scarily powerful it can be to play into the fears of others, and influence their ways of