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Obedience In The Crucible, The Ethnic Theory Of Plane Crashes, And

1537 Words7 Pages

Blindly following authority: The dangerous game that destroys lives. The Jonestown massacre of 1978 serves as a terrifying example of the consequences that can result from blind obedience. The Jonestown massacre was led by a manipulative preacher, Jim Jones, in which 900 of his followers committed suicide. His followers were heavily brainwashed and fell into his idiomatic beliefs and stood by him even when he ordered them to commit suicide and as an act of loyalty, they all drank the cyanide-laced punch that Jones had prepared. The same concept of blind obedience occurred in the texts The Crucible, The Lottery, The Milgram Experiment, The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes, and Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment in which the people just blindly …show more content…

People do this to avoid consequences, have respect for all authority, don’t question authority, and most are too afraid to speak up. Overall, throughout “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “The Milgram Experiment” by Stanley Milgram, “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes” by Malcolm Gladwell, and “Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment” by Saul McLeod, all exploit and explain the dangers of blind obedience. In the Crucible, blind obedience is shown during the witchcraft investigation that resulted in the deaths of innocent people which was led by Abigail Williams. In the Lottery, blind obedience is shown when in the brutal stoning of a member in the village without questioning the ethical standpoint. In the Milgram experiment, blind obedience is shown when individuals get pressured into causing harm to others when they were instructed by the authority. In the Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes, blind obedience is shown when the flight crew failed to challenge the captain’s poor decision which resulted in the plane crashing. Finally, in the Zimbardo-Standford Prison Experiment, blind obedience is shown when the assigned guards become powerful and abusive towards the prisoners because of the amount of power the guards gained. Unfortunately, whether you like it or not, everyone falls into blind obedience multiple times throughout their life span, and the only way to get out of it? Get more

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