...Mass hysteria is the phenomenon in which a group of people experience similar symptoms of anxiety, fear, or other physical symptoms. A well-known case of mass hysteria in history was the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. This incident was portrayed by the Arthur Miller play The Crucible, in which a group of girls starting falsely accusing multiple women in their town of witchcraft, starting a wave of hysterical fear throughout the village. Neighbors would accuse others of witchcraft over land disputes, petty squabbles or simply because they did not like them (Miller). A more recent case, and on a much greater scale, was the Pokémon Panic of 1997, when an episode of Pokémon in Japan sent hundreds of children to the hospital with seizure-like symptoms....
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...The Crucible and Mass Hysteria Mass hysteria has been displayed many times throughout history. From The Dancing plague of the 1500’s to the more modern LeRoy High School tourette incident of 2012, mass hysteria is rare but perplexing when it is seen. Though it is fairly easy to find differences between mass hysteria and other problems in modern times, it is harder to distinguish older supposed cases of mass hysteria due to their limited evidence and the legends which have become a part of the story. This is displayed greatly in the events of the Salem witch trial. It is very hard to distinguish if the events of the trials were caused by mass hysteria or some other catalyst which caused the destruction of so many lives. Even so it is safe to say that is is very unlikely that this tragedy was caused by mass hysteria, rather some other illness. Before a claim is made there must be a...
Words: 785 - Pages: 4
...In a society where world peace is a dream, hysteria affected the world drastically. Hysteria is a phenomenon that incites, real or fake, threats to people in a society, causing fear and uncontrolled actions. In American history, there were many different accounts of mass hysteria such as: the Salem Witch Trials, the Red Scare, 9/11 and today’s modern day mass hysteria. Mass Hysteria greatly impacted American societies in the past, for instance, the Salem Witch Trials. Occurring in Salem Village, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693, where Salem’s society believed heavily of their Puritan beliefs which includes the devil and witchery. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of trials where a group of girls in the Village, falsely accused several people using witchcraft with the help of the devil. By gaining the approval of the head-judge of the court which allowed to control Salem’s courthouse, this group of girls were able to condemn anyone in their society. The girls would then abuse their power convicting numerous amounts of people to witchery...
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...world, there are many reasons for mass hysteria. In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, the mass hysteria was that many girls were accused of being witches because they were "dancing in the forest". An entire town went balistic when they heard the word witch. In the twenty-first century, people panic and become frightened over terrorist attacks and bombings. Numerous attacks and bombings have occured in the United States and an infinite amount of people become terrified that something worse might happen. In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, the people of the town go insane when they heard that a number of girls were bewitched. Once the people heard, their only reaction was to run and see if it was the truth. Reasons why a diverse amount of people become frightened is because people are going to get hurt or killed and also are worried about themselves because they can also be accused. Humans cause problems as a result of not having a satisfying childhood and want to make others lives miserable....
Words: 478 - Pages: 2
...The Crucible and The Salem Witch Trials both contain mass hysteria and elements of McCarthyism. Mass hysteria is defined as, “a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness.” McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of treason without proper regard for evidence. During the McCarthy era many Americans were accused of being communist and became investigated and questioned before government agencies. This time period of fear and accusations caused mass hysteria within the country. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are similar because they both caused mass hysteria in which people accused each other of things that were not true....
Words: 405 - Pages: 2
...Mass hysteria is a social phenomenon wherein people valve something worthwhile, to such an extreme level, that it leaves to them doing horrible things to maintain it. The Crucible and Swing Kids share many commonalities that make them examples of mass hysteria. The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials and they show a number of teenage and preteen girls feeling (or at least claiming they feel) as though they are being cursed by witches, so they seek to root them out. In Swing Kids, we follow a group of boys who like to dance to swing music, something outlawed by the Nazis; two of the boys join Hitler’s Youth and start to believe Nazi propaganda, at least to a degree; by the end of the movie, one of these boys ends up so firmly against the Nazis that he gets sent to a prison camp, while the other...
Words: 457 - Pages: 2
..."Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven" (1156 Crucible). Mass hysteria has been an issue all throughout history. The root cause of this is usually just misinformation or straight up lies. Although sometimes you cannot blame the people who regard the hysteria as truth. Threatening someone's livelihood, family, and well being causes them to think irrationally. Mass hysteria in a time or crisis can result in an overreaction and loss of critical thinking. Examples of this throughout history are the Salem Witch Trials, The Red Scare, and the 2012 Mayan Calendar scare. Within the Salem Witch Trials, was a vast amount of hysteria that cost the lives of many people. Religion and “the devil” played a key role in the cause of the trials and even does today “The Christian belief in the existence of the Devil is widely accepted in modern-America” (Kenneth). The use of unknown evils as well as spectral evidence to instill fear into the commoners propelled the hysteria “witchcraft is... an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it?” (Miller). Leaders of the court realize that witchcraft is something with no real evidence to it other than he said she said. Evidence during this time was allowed to be completely circumstantial, which in turn made claims by people get too much traction too quickly. Even the more level headed characters in the crucible could succumb to the nonsense. One of...
Words: 1500 - Pages: 6
...At the Edge of Unjustified Suspicion Mass hysteria is a plague that has been around for many decades and is still around in today’s society. Mass hysteria is a condition in which many or certain groups of people are afflicted by the belief that something is not real or that is a fable. A prime example of mass hysteria occurred in Spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, known as The Salem Witch Trials. The mass hysteria which caused the Salem Witch Trials was unjustified. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1688 when the Goodwin children all started behaving in a bizarre manner. Then, four years later, in 1692 two young girls (Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris) started to twitch, choke, and twist their bodies in many different horrifying...
Words: 389 - Pages: 2
...National public justice systems worldwide can provide many different examples of fatal situations that turn into giant losses, ruined careers, and lives. There are many present-day cases, one of those terrible and neglected cases is known as McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial. It is considered to be the most costly and the most overwhelmed criminal trial in the modern history of the American society. According to the official data, during seven years of constant hearings and investigations, the American government spent $ 15 million on prosecutions. However, the investigation finally ended up with no convictions and the crime was never committed. The process involved hundreds of emotionally injured children and broke lives for the McMartin family. Some of the causes had problems in the investigation, public hysteria, and mass media effect, that led to such a tragic. We may all agree on the fact that this “ criminal trial in American history, should serve as a cautionary tale”( Linder, 2003)....
Words: 621 - Pages: 3
...jennifer lux 12/8/15 The Crucible analysis “We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterday”- Persius. There have been moments in history where people were too consumed in fear that they broke many of their morals and due to powerful situations people behaved differently than their normal self. A play called the Crucible was written in 1953 by Author Miller to portray the unfairness at that time due to people being accused of witches with little to no evidence and then hanged. This event was called the Salem witch trials, which took place in the province of Massachusetts Bay. This play is an allegory to the McCarthy Hearings that took place from 1950 to 1956. The McCarthy hearings occurred in 1947; President Truman ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government due to a fear of people within the United States being a communist spy. The fear of communism intensified when a high ranked official Alger Hiss was convicted of being a communist spy. Senator Joseph McCarthy stepped in and convinced/alarm people within the U.S that there were Communist and Communist sympathizers that would try to overthrow the government. As a result, he formed a special Congressional committee to investigate Americans who were suspected of Communist activities and this movement was named McCarthyism. The Crucible is a play that is universal and enduring because it uses allegory and archetypes to teach readers...
Words: 951 - Pages: 4
...Using both direct and indirect characterization is essential to give a story flow and not sound robotic. Arthur Miller does a fret job of using both versions of characterization. One example of direct characterization is Mr. Hale being described briefly. “Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual” (32). The book goes on to say that Hale likes to explore the imaginary world. The author described Hale directly by saying he is “tight-skinned” and an “eager-eyed intellectual”. He believes strongly that the devil exists being that he has said to encounter one before. He believes that the devil has many “lieutenants” and that they are everywhere. The characterization of Mr. Hale is accurate because he is eager to put the devil's helpers behind bars or to put an end to them. In other parts of the book, based off of his dialogue, Hale is very vulnerable as he is gullible when hearing accusations and court cases. Hale eventually comes around and is a good guy in the book. He tells Proctor to confess so he is not condemn which is a loophole found in a faulty court system of the time An example of indirect characterization is when Arthur Miller described John...
Words: 901 - Pages: 4
...The Crucible and the Detroit riots have a lot in common, whether it be from comparing the mass hysteria, or people being falsely accused of terrible acts, the similarities are unmistakable. A small rumor can have giant effects and push people beyond a breaking point. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a very good example of how people react when they don’t know how to respond and they see violence as the only resolution, such as the residents in Detroit did during July of 1967. The two events are very similar if you consider the mass hysteria and several other factors. The Detroit riot of 1967 was a series of violent clashes between the city’s residents and the police department (Emeka). It remains of one the most violent uprisings in the...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...1) How could the Belgium problem have damaged Coca Cola? Coca-Cola had been creating a really strong and successful image, and people had great sympathy for the brand. But because of the Belgian scandal, the credibility of the umbrella brand was being doubted. First of all, customers (mainly from Belgium and France at the beginning) were scared of drinking Coca-Cola products. For example, parents did not want their kids to get contaminated. More so, the brand was not giving a specific reason for these incidents, and by not reacting soon enough the quality of their products was at stake. Because of that, the Belgian government imposed strict hygienic conditions to recover the right to sell their products again. Therefore, the rest of European countries had an "excuse" to distrust the brand, even if the Belgian authorities reacted a bit extremely due to the former chicken crisis. Suppliers and distributors around Europe were also impacted. Coca-Cola, as a global brand, had had to trust its bottlers to follow the quality values the company held, but this scandal challenged the current control of Coca-Cola over its supplier's plants. But these suppliers also were scared of the consequences of their relationship with Coca-Cola in this crisis. Coca-Cola also suffered a financial impact because of this crisis. The withdrawal of their products had a negative impact on the second quarter net income of the year 1999, with a decrease of 21%. Not only that, but the cost of the entire...
Words: 1134 - Pages: 5
...Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” is about the mass hysteria of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1692. The conflict arose after many young girls went around accusing people of witchcraft. As fingers were pointed and accusations were made, many people were put on trial and hanged to death. One of the characters in the play who is put on trial is John Proctor. Proctor is a highly respected individual who is proud of his good name. As the story of the play develops, secrets of John's past are leaked and threaten to ruin his reputation. However, Proctor refuses to lose his integrity. To combat the accusations made against him, Proctor displays characteristics of honesty, bravery, and dignity....
Words: 605 - Pages: 3
...Fares Alkatanani Ap Language March 19, 2024 Mrs. Evans What were some of the possible causes of the witch trials? Le Beau, Bryan F. “Factional Politics Provoked the Crisis in Salem Village.” The Salem Witch Trials. Edited by Laura Marvel. Greenhaven Press, 2003. pp. 113-117. 30 - 36. LeBeau examines the role of internal conflicts within Salem leading up to the trials. He argues that economic tensions and land disputes charged the Salem witch with hysteria. The article takes a further look at power struggles between Salem Town and Village and how they only deepened social tensions, contributing to the occurrence of the trials. The political state of Salem is in crisis. Many were in disagreement, causing high tensions. Salem is divided into...
Words: 1296 - Pages: 6
