How does fear fuel hysteria and mob mentality?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
“All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.”
― Aristotle
― Aristotle
Both hysteria and mob mentality are the unique group behavior displaying uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic. People conform to the majority in fear that they will not fit into modern society and they will be looked upon as oddities, thus their social status declines. Many also fall into hysteria and mob mentality because they are afraid to leave their traditional teachings for a new idea. Fear is the main source of mob mentality in society. Unfortunately, very few individuals are free from mob mentality.
Back in the 19th century, slavery was considered common -- an everyday element of agriculture and commerce in the South, until it was abolished in USA in 1865. Racism and segregation persisted in America till the mid 20th century. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, a majority of the characters view African Americans no more than tools – plainly because those were the values that they were taught and they fear to leave them. Twain satirizes mob mentality in the feud between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons; both sides have forgotten the initial reason of the feud, but still keep fighting because they were taught to hate each other. The fear of going astray from traditional teachings and being oddities fuels the mob mentality in society, sometimes keeping people away from doing the morally correct thing to do
Another good example of mob mentality can be found if we go back to the Massachusetts prosecutions and hearings in the late 15th century, better known as the Salem Witch Trials. Fear of witchcraft spread through the town and Salem fell into mass hysteria with numerous accusations on various people from West Indian servants to prominent townspeople, but mainly women. The Salem Witch Trials ended in 1692 when people finally realized that the stories and accusations on “witches” were made up, but by then, 19 “witches” had already been put to death. The Witch Trials show the foolishness of the Salem townspeople to get caught up in the hysteria of witchcraft just because others were strong believers in it.
After analyzing why people fall into hysteria and mob mentality, it can be concluded that it is indeed fear of leaving traditional values and ethics that seem “moral” that fuels the urge to conform to society and fit in, sometimes leading to harsh consequences such as death.
Don't forget about when everyone wanted to lynch the "duke" and the "king." Sometimes mob mentality can be scary...deadly scary. When MLK Jr. died, the Civil Rights Movement turned to Malcolm X and violence broke out in cities. People were angry so everyone else got angry. This sort of thing also happens at crazy concerts, parties, and other places where drugs are popular. Suddenly nobody is thinking and someone ends up hurt. I don't really have anything to say against this post...just have to agree with it.
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ReplyDeleteSame here, I agree with what you said about how people act to fit into the certain society. Your example of the Salem Witch trials do show how funny people act because of such small psychological factor. The whole slavery issue back in the 1800s too, more than what's shown in HuckFinn is important too, I'm pretty sure many Northerners supported abolitionism because the their neighbor did too.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people are scared to deviate away from the norm because society does not judge those who conform. Therefore, if someone in the crowd does not follow the mob, then they may ultimately be accused, too.
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