Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

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Civilizations’ Oddities: Mass Hysteria in History Outbreaks of mass hysteria have been documented in almost every civilization, causing sudden political, socio-economic, and cultural changes. From the 1962 laughing epidemic in the village of Kashasha, Tanzania to the bizarre illness believed to be caused by the “toxic lady” of Riverside, California, people across all cultures and time periods have experienced sudden onsets of similar and strange symptoms. Mass hysteria is caused by the power of suggestion, which is further fueled by a common fear, a stress that affects the members of a society, the emotional neglect of someone in a position of power, or the anxiety over a problematic situation. Each epidemic of mass hysteria stems from a common and logical fear relevant to its time period. In order for suggestion to cause hysteria, it needs to be viewed as valid. Often this is a fear or worry held in common by members of the society. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, this fear is witchcraft. The Salem witch trials occurred because the whole community feared witchcraft. Had the adults of Salem not believed the girls who were accusing social outcasts of witchcraft, no mass hysteria would have occurred. The power of suggestion is only as strong as the person making the suggestion. For this reason, a person with power or in a position of power has started many of the accusations that have lead to mass hysterias in the past. Sociologists Robert E Bartholomew and Erich Goode suggest that excessive discipline contributes to mass hysteria by limiting the individual’s ability to act and express oneself. When an individual in power makes the initial suggestion, the people who can’t express themselves act out in a manner, which has been deemed acceptable by the suggestion (Bartholomew and Goode). In The Crucible, the Putnam’s suggestion that witches are the cause of

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