Examples Of Mob Hysteria In The Crucible

Mob hysteria, as described by CollinsDictionary, is “the heightened or extreme emotions that can be experienced by individuals as part of a larger crowd, usually caused by violence and/or fear” (Http://www.Collinsdictionary.com). Mob hysteria is not a relatively new concept in the human psyche. For example, on April 29 1992, Riots broke out on the street of Los Angeles, CA over the beating of an unarmed, African American motorists named Rodney King by four police officers. Two less recent examples of mob hysteria occurred in the mid 1700’s with the the Salem Witch Trials and in the mid 1950’s with trials lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy in order to root out communism in the federal government. One of the most magnificent examples of mob hysteria

In “The Crucible”, the reader can lucidly see how many of those accused of witchery are innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever. For example, Betty accuses many people at one time of being associated with the devil. This accusation had no backbone at all, and only came to be after she saw Abigail Williams and the other girls start getting excited and start accusing people. Betty states, “I saw George Jacobs with the devi! I saw Goody Have with the devil!”(48). This quote effectively demonstrates how an individual, or multiple individuals for that matter, could end up being falsely accused of witchery merely because one girl felt obliged to accuse someone; Her accusations led to the eventual convictions of both of the people Betty accused. This example shows how a simple false accusation was able to turn the entire village of salem against these two people. Furthermore, personal rivalries also caused mass destruction and

Peer pressure was able to make its way into court proceedings in both judges and those being testified. Those being testified often felt pressured by those surrounding them in their daily life such as friends or family. A good example of peer pressure during this time is the Hollywood hearings. According to History.com, 10 Hollywood actors resisted the pressure set upon them by members of the Hollywood community, and in doing so were arrested and lost all jobs and reputations they previously held (History.com). In short, the 10 were blacklisted by the community. This is significant because it shows how serious the consequences were if one was to resist the pressure set upon them to