Mob Mentality is based on the fact that there is power in numbers, and when one person enables another into a specific belief or mind set, there is an obvious ripple effect. When challenging a group as an individual, it is hard to be taken seriously as when going against a group as there is the looming dread of belittlement. The possibility that because an opinion differs from the rest, it is seen as inherently incorrect and that there was something wrong with them for thinking that way. Mob Mentality plagues the stories The Lottery, All Summer in a Day, and Harrison Bergeron. History has many examples of Mob Mentality and its effects on not only the direct society but also the world around it, and these short stories follow a similar premise.
…show more content…
The Salem Witch Trials have been notorious for the mistreatment of those involved, some being forced to state their guiltiness out of fear of punishment such as whipping, and even being hanged. But in the roots of the trials, could be a logical reason why the accused presented symptoms of “possession”, ergot. “Ergot is a fungus that infects rye, a grain more commonly used in past centuries to bake bread than it is today. One of the byproducts present in ergot-infected grain is ergotamine, which is related to LSD. Toxicologists have known for years that eating bread baked with ergot-contaminated rye can trigger convulsions, delusions, creepy-crawly sensations of the skin, vomiting,and hallucinations. [...] Rye was the primary grain grown, so there was plenty of it to be infected. Caporael also discovered that most of the accusers lived on the west side of the village, where the fields were chronically marshy, making them a perfect breeding ground for the fungus. The crop harvested in the fall of 1691 would have been baked and eaten during the following winter, which was when the fits of madness began. However, the next summer was unusually dry, which could explain the sudden drop in the bewitchments. No ergot, no madness.” (NEA) This coercion that because the accused were possessed by the devil, caused many to lose their lives. The Salem Witch Trials is an example of this conformity and deindividualization, where people are treated only as propaganda and toys by a greater force than
The Salem Witch Trials have been notorious for the mistreatment of those involved, some being forced to state their guiltiness out of fear of punishment such as whipping, and even being hanged. But in the roots of the trials, could be a logical reason why the accused presented symptoms of “possession”, ergot. “Ergot is a fungus that infects rye, a grain more commonly used in past centuries to bake bread than it is today. One of the byproducts present in ergot-infected grain is ergotamine, which is related to LSD. Toxicologists have known for years that eating bread baked with ergot-contaminated rye can trigger convulsions, delusions, creepy-crawly sensations of the skin, vomiting,and hallucinations. [...] Rye was the primary grain grown, so there was plenty of it to be infected. Caporael also discovered that most of the accusers lived on the west side of the village, where the fields were chronically marshy, making them a perfect breeding ground for the fungus. The crop harvested in the fall of 1691 would have been baked and eaten during the following winter, which was when the fits of madness began. However, the next summer was unusually dry, which could explain the sudden drop in the bewitchments. No ergot, no madness.” (NEA) This coercion that because the accused were possessed by the devil, caused many to lose their lives. The Salem Witch Trials is an example of this conformity and deindividualization, where people are treated only as propaganda and toys by a greater force than