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Mob Mentality In The Town Of Salem

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One's moral compass is diminished during times of collective mob mentality, this causes many to wonder if conforming to a herd is subliminal or subjective.The town of Salem rose to chaos in the witch trials as the truth of devil affiliation was based on the accusations made by those falling ill to mob mentality in search for acceptance, empowerment, trust in the majority, and collective fear. Mob mentality held capture over the town of Salem as fear ripped through the hearts and families within the community.
Conforming to the mob caused social Validation and personal power advancements, but refusing to do so ostracized the individual. Tituba is a caring, kind, black slave from Barbados, manipulated by Abigail a young girl with a vindictive …show more content…

Tituba was accused of witchcraft by Abigail which was believed to have caused unconsciousness in Betty Parris. Tituba became fearful for her life as the punishment for this ungodly crime was validated by death. She quickly realized to establish acceptance she would need to transfer the blame onto someone else, the only way to do this was to admit to witchcraft and describe the thoughts the devil had put into her head “He say Mr. Parris must be killed! Mr. Parris no Godly man and no gentle man, and he bid me rise out of my bed and cut your throat” ( The Crucible pg .44 ). This caused the attention to turn to Mr. Parris and Tituba no longer was ostracised by the girls. The group of girls was led by Abigail, one of the main predecessors involved in accusations with a motive for revenge. Abigail had an affair with …show more content…

Reverend Parris was a greedy, selfish man who went to extreme lengths to save his reputation and job claiming he was seeking help for the sake of his daughter who lay unconscious due to witchcraft. When his daughter awakes she joins a group of girls who were originally found in the woods together. Reverend Parris describes the majority as “ all innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! These people are gloomy for it.” ( The Crucible pg.87). Parris is intending to relay the information that a fully innocent person of the village is happy to be on the majority side, but as soon as they are accused everyone else in the community will let them take the punishment whether guilty or not. This occurs due to the fear instilled in the villagers. Many of them formed groups as they saw safety in numbers. The most persuasive group to form was led by Abigail and included all the girls who were allegedly in the woods conjuring spirits the night they were

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Tituba, Reverend Parris's African American slave from Barbados, plays a major role in The Crucible, being one of the primary catalysts of the Salem Witch Trials. Tituba was the first person accused of witchery during the Salem Witch Trials by Abigail Williams, and the first person to, consequently, admit to witchcraft. Tituba, growing up in Barbados, never saw dancing and singing as a wild and satanic, as dancing was tied to her African roots. As she is transitioned to America, however, she had to conform to the Puritan lifestyle, in which one could not sing or dance. One night, at the girls of Salem, Massachusetts's requests, she decided to perform a ritual that would allow them a boyfriends, however, it quickly escalated into the event that would spill blood, reveal deep secrets of the time, and destroy the trust within the community in Salem.

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Salem had a hard time when Parris was elected to be the Reverend, apparently they had a different candidate in mind. A character in the story that was fine in the beginning but later began doubting the way people thought about him after the incident, is Rev. Parris. After walking into the woods and witnessing the group of young women dancing and some nude, while trying to conjure spirits. He later confesses to the court what he sees in the forest.

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In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, many people in a small village were being accused of witchcraft and were either executed or put in prison if they said they were not under the control of the devil. A teenage girl, Abigail Williams, wanted to kill the wife of the man she loved. Abigail and many other teenage girls were caught acting strange and dancing in the woods one night. When caught, they were accused of witchcraft. The result of this accusation was to blame other people in the village.

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Every person has that one person that they believe is completely evil. Now imagine a town full of that person with a couple of good role models thrown in there. That is exactly how Salem, the town in The Crucible, is. The whole witch trials started with people getting revenge on the people they believe wronged them. For some reason, the public just goes along with it and believes their lies.

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He exclaims to his niece, “I cannot blink what I saw, Abigail, for my enemies will not blink it” (1104). Abigail wants to confess what happened in the woods to the authorities from keeping her friend from getting accused of being a witch, but Parris wants to keep her from doing this because he knows that their reputation will be ruined from this. Overall, it is clear that Reverend Parris is overly concerned by what his peers think of him. Tituba comes off as a lying character who will cover up the truth to protect herself and others.

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As I was reading “The Crucible” it gave the impression that there are a few antagonists that appeared throughout the story, but one antagonist stuck around throughout the whole play. I believe that the antagonist is the perception of the character 's reputation. It seems that the concept of reputation affected John Proctor, the protagonist in the text, and Reverend Parris. Back in the 1600’s in Salem, people seemed to only care about their religion, Puritanism.

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Based on the tragic events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, The Crucible is a hard-hitting tale that reflects upon the subjectivity of goodness and virtue, sparking the reflection of the importance of moral behavior during times of hardship and crisis. In an unyielding and restricted Puritan community like Salem village, a bad reputation could result in social exclusion and scorning from the community. As a result, many members of the community would go to extremes to avoid tarnishing their reputations. The Crucible asserts that those who are concerned only with protecting their standings are dangerous to a society, as they are willing to blame and hurt other people in order to protect themselves.

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To begin, it is a popular belief that Tituba, a slave in the story, was justified in her confession to witchcraft in order to save her own life. After the girls of Salem peg Tituba as the culprit for corrupting their souls and torturing them, she is interrogated and accused by characters such as the esteemed Reverend Hale and town’s Reverend, Mr. Parris. Finally, Parris exclaims, “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (1.941-942). Tituba instantly confesses, and saves herself from a terrible death.

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Reverend Parris was the uncle of Abigail Williams and all he wanted was to have a good reputation in the community. At the start of the Crucible the girls were dancing around a fire in the woods in the middle of the night which was perceived as conjuring spirits during the salem witch trials times. Reverend Parris was in the woods and saw the ceremony going on and when the girls got caught they scattered around. Normally that would be reported immediately and the punishment to the girls would be getting whipped. To keep his reputation reverend Parris kept it to himself until the very end of the movie when he reluctantly told governor Danforth because reverend Hale and John Proctor brought it up.

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He understood that the spectacle would raise suspicion of witchcraft among the people of Salem, and he would be implicated. He eventually took advantage of the situation to protect his position and punish a faction in the community that he suspected actively opposed him. Parris seemed glad when the girls started mentioning people they saw with the devil because it distanced his family from the situation. The focus was redirected at those who were mentioned by the girls. Parris can be blamed for setting a tone for his daughter and the people that will make them hysterical; As well as trying to point the finger at other people, to make sure no one blames him for what is going on.

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Parris is a very self-centered man and is very embedded in his place in the community. He is a preacher for the church of Salem and his niece and daughter have been “bewitched” or so he thinks. Parris believes what he does is just and that no one should oppose him. This is also why he refuses to let news about his niece and daughter get out, he doesn’t want people to overthrow his position. Parris is a static character due to his nature of unchanging personality wise throughout the crucible, he is always self-centered.

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We often seen someone is only care about himself, they don’t care about others even their family and they always have excuse of it. Reverend Parris is a kind of this person. “The Crucible” is about the Salem witch trials. Starting with several young girls claim to be afflicted by witchcraft and then accuse people in the town of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shapes Parris’s character as a very selfish person, and everything he did was to keep his good reputation in the village and to get rid of anyone against him, which drives him mad.

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Abigail blamed Tituba for witchcraft because Abigail did not want the blame and Tituba was an easy scapegoat since she is black. Abigail yelled at Paris, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”(1.905). This is just one of the victims of Abigail scapegoating. The main purpose, scapegoating, occurred more than vengeance did.

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Thus this shows us how mob mentality is evident in the crucible and encompasses characters to turn from the truth and ends in the demise of the Salem Community. It is clear that mob mentality in “The Crucible” resulted in the

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