Mob Mentality In Julius Caesar

Imagine our world without the start or end of 80’s trends. Both the start and end of “80’s Fashion” was started by mob mentality. According to an article on Brains.org, “Mob or Herd mentality refers to the behavioral tendency of people (or other social animals) to act in unison with the group of which they are a part,” (What is Mob…). 80’s fashion was started by a small group of people which much of the United States later followed. Mob mentality occurs all over the country and is a big part of the world’s culture, as it is also highly focused on in literary works. Mob Mentality was used in both A Gathering of Old Men by Earnest Gaines and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, and they also have deeper connections within each other.
Earnest

When Cassius got Brutus to conspire against Caesar it led to others joining this group of conspirators. Caesar did not like Cassius, so Cassius wanted to have him assassinated. The only way Cassius could do that was if he had a group of people to help him. Cassius convinced Brutus, Caesar’s most trusted friend, and a group of senators that they were going to assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome. Rome was not to be ruled by one single leader, but as Caesar got more powerful he eventually became the dictator of Rome. Many people knew that this was not right, but did not speak out about it. Brutus’ ancestors were the reason Rome was turned into a republic, so Brutus cared dearly about his country. Brutus and Caesar were actually very close friends, and when others found out that Brutus was in on the assassination it convinced them to help, as well. The mob mentality in Julius Caesar was formed by Cassius when he got Brutus to side with him. The mob’s mentality was so strong that Brutus lied to his wife when she asked if he was keeping secrets from her. Portia, Burtus’ wife was becoming suspicious when she noticed him acting differently lately. One night Portia confronted her husband, and asked him why he had been acting so strangely. Brutus replied, “I am not well in health and that is all,” (1028). As Brutus said this he lied right to his wife’s face. Brutus lying to his

There are more connections in the two works than just the author using mob mentality. The way the author writes about the character that benefits from the group. In Earnest Gaines’ novel, A Gathering of Old Men, a crowd of old men bonded together to protect each other in a time of crisis. In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, a group of conspirators came together to assassinate Caesar for the greater good of Rome. In both of these works mob mentality is used to benefit one single person. In A Gathering of Old Men, the mob protects the murderer of Beau Bauton. The actual murderer of Beau Bauton was Charlie, and he was the only one who benefited from the group of old men. Similar to how Charlie benefited from the mob in A Gathering of Old Men, Cassius benefited from the mob in Julius Caesar. Cassius hated Caesar, so he wanted him dead. Cassius convinced a group of senators that they were going to kill Caesar for the greater good of Rome. When the group assassinated Caesar Cassius had gotten what he wanted all along. In addition to the connections that only one person was benefited in each writing but there are also connections in the way each author approached the mob mentality theme. Gaines’ mob was to protect one single person, but it actually was letting a murderer run loose. Shakespeare’s mob was to help Rome but was just really killing someone over a grudge. In both pieces