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Examples Of Herd Behavior In The Crucible

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Herd behavior, the tendency of individuals to think and act as a group. The Crucible has many signs of this herd behavior,one being how the girls follow Abigail’s footsteps and actions. Then there is mass hysteria, which is an outbreak of unusual behavior, where fear and paranoia take over. A showcase of this in The Crucible would be anyone who feared being called a witch. The Crucible is a good reference point when talking about mass hysteria and herd behavior.
The best example of this herd behavior in the Crucible, is when all the girls in the town start to follow and point their fingers in the same direction as Abigail. A great scene from The Crucible Movie, is where Mary Warren is being tried and Abigail makes an attempt to “persuade” Mary. This “persuasion” is Abby saying Mary's spirit is flying in the corner of the courthouse, then after Abby says it every other girl will start to point their finger up and yell that they see Mary. When herd behavior is observed in the article “Herd Behavior”, a key point that is noted is people oftentimes ignore the alternatives strategies to follow the mass. In Act II of The Crucible, Reverend Hale acknowledges a point …show more content…

Everybody in the town feared her, they were all paranoid about being hanged or having to confess to witchcraft. That is why all the girls follow behind her, because if they do what Abigail wants them to, their sense of paranoia is lessened. Another time when fear took over a person in The Crucible, is when John is threatening Mary. “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that”(Miller 38)! This is a quote from Mary that exposes the threats that Abigail is using to make the girls hysterical. Then she goes on to say “I cannot, they’ll turn on me–”(Miller 38). This line shows the herd behavior of the girls and how their instinct is to follow the leader rather than face the paranoid

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