June 12, 2016 marked the day of the worst terrorist attack recorded, the Orlando Nightclub shooting. Many lives were lost, many victims were injured, and many loved ones were devastated. On the other hand, The Crucible was written portraying the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible was written during the communist red scare in 1952. Mass hysteria is seen places people may not expect to see it. During shootings, challenges, court trials, as well as dancing. The mass hysteria of the June 12, 2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting counterparts to the paranoia in the Salem witch trials as displayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
A man named Omar Mateen attacked Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Pulse nightclub was not just any nightclub, it was a gay nightclub. During this shooting, many people in Pulse Nightclub were informing loved ones; family and friends, of what was going on. Some texted loved ones knowing they were not going to make it out alive. For example “ Eddie Justice, 30, texts his mother from the club bathroom: “Mommy i love you.” Then: “In club they shooting.” “ Trapp in bathroom.” “ Pulse. Downtown. Call police.” And then “I’m gonna die.” (Orlando nightclub shooting timeline: Four hours of terror unfold) These messages from Eddie Justice to his mother shows that he was frightened for his life and he was trying to get help. While some messaged family and friends some posted about the incident on social media. The youngest victim in the shooting was eighteen years old, Akyra Murray. In this instance “Akyra Murray… calls her mother begging for help and saying she and her cousin had been shot while hiding in a bathroom stall with others. Murray later died from her wound, and become the youngest victim to die in the Pulse Shooting.” (Orlando nightclub shooting timeline: Four hours of terror unfold) This shows that people were contacting loved ones informing them of the incident. Omar’s substantial intention was to kill. Omar killed forty – nine people and injured fifty – three. Many people may not be aware of the fact that attacking Pulse Nightclub was not Omar Mateen’s initial intention.
As many people know Omar Mateen was the shooter on the Pulse Nightclub, what many people do not know is that Pulse Nightclub was not his intention. Omar Mateen anticipated his attack to be at Disney World’s Shopping and Entertainment center. The shooter placed a gun in a stroller but then became spooked by the police. After becoming spooked he then targeted Pulse Nightclub, killing fifty – three and injuring forty – nine. Omar Mateen, twenty – nine years old, worked as a correctional officer at Martin Correctional Institute in Florida. Omar Mateen pledged his allegiance to ISIS. “Mateen called dispatchers about 20 minutes into the attack, pledging allegiance to ISIS and mentioning the Boston Marathon bombers, a U.S. official said.” (Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS, official says) This quote from the CNN article shows that Omar Mateen pledged to ISIS which shows that this attack was a terrorist attack.
In 1952 Arthur Miller published the play called The Crucible. The Crucible was written during the communist red scare. The setting of Arthur Miller’s play is in Salem, Massachusetts. This play, The Crucible, was written about the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials took place from 1692 – 1693. The Salem witch trials were prosecutions of people being accused of witchcraft. More than 200 people were accused, those found guilty were punished by being hanged.
People may not know that mass hysteria is not a mental illness. Mass hysteria is a condition in which as large group of people display similar physical or emotional symptoms such as anxiety or maximum eagerness. Some mass hysteria cases include The Dancing Plague of 1518 or such as Meowing Nuns. Mass hysteria is not always out of the ordinary like that. It can be displayed as challenges, such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Mass hysteria is displayed in different ways and is not always a bad thing. People may not think something would be considered mass hysteria, but when thinking about the incident they realize it is.
In the beginning of The Crucible girls were dancing and summoning the devil, as some believe. This young girl, Abigail, blew things out of proportion. Abigail drank blood as a charm trying to kill John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth. While the girls were dancing, having fun, and drinking blood; Reverend Parris caught them. Betty Parris, Reverend Parris’s daughter, then became sick with a mysterious sickness. This is when people knew about witchcraft. The girls were frightened of getting into trouble; therefore, the girls that were dancing in the woods began making accusations. The start of the Orlando Nightclub Shooting would be the shooter himself. The shooting would not have taken place if Omar Mateen did not set out to kill.
You start to see mass hysteria in the middle part of both the Orlando Nightclub Shooting and in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Orlando Nightclub, Pulse, was attacked. Where mass hysteria is involved in the Pulse Nightclub shooting would be the actual shooting part and how the victims reacted. The victims of that shooting were frightened so they were running around trying to find a way to escape. If they couldn’t escape they hid. As well as the fact that they were letting people know what was going on through texting, calling, and social media. This type of mass hysteria is shown in all shootings. No matter what people are going to try to find a way to save themselves, no matter the consequences. The mass hysteria shown in The Crucible were the girls dancing in the woods. As said before, the girls would accuse random people to save themselves from trouble. If Abigail said something then all of the other girls did too. For example, in The Crucible, Mary Warren was on trial. Abigail claimed she saw a bird, after Abigail said that so did the rest of the girls. They all started to freak out due to one person saying something. This shows mass hysteria due to the fact they were all following Abigail.
Towards the end of both The Crucible and the Pulse Nightclub shooting was a tragic time, people suffered. In The Crucible people, innocent or not, were getting hanged. The Crucible is sort of in relation to one of the four corner questions we did, if you confess you get lesser punishment. In this case this is how it is played. People would claim their innocence, yet still get hanged. Or another saying that would fit The Crucible would be it’s a lose lose situation. In Orlando on June 12, 2016, a lot of people lost their lives to one person. Those victims died on June 12 had family and friends that were devastated. They lost someone that they knew and loved. This ties into The Crucible due to people losing loved ones due to them being accused then hanged.
A theocracy is a system of government where God is the utmost leader. In a theocracy, the leaders are apart of the church; such as, priests. The states legal system is based on religious law. Some advantages of a theocracy would include: it is extremely organized and its controlled. Some disadvantages are that there isn’t room for change, no freedom, as well as it being a cruel form of government. The Crucible displays a theocracy due to the witch trials. An example shown in The Crucible would be when Mr. Hale says “ I may only fear the lord, sit, but there is fear in the country nevertheless.” (Mr. Hale) This shows that Mr.Hale is apart of a theocracy due to him saying “ I may only fear the lord”. Another example in The Crucible includes “ I cannot they will turn on me” ( Mary Warren). Mary Warren is worried about god turning on her and the girls that are accusing people. In The Crucible people were guilty until proven innocent. Which is hard to prove your innocence because of the problem being witch craft. The priests were punishing people for summoning the devil which is a crime in the churches point of view. Towards the end The Crucible displayed a broken theocracy. A broken theocracy was displayed due to the girls going against what was right. They were accusing innocent people knowing they would be hanged due to the girls playing along with the whole thing trying to make people look guilty. The fear of god and the devil were used in The Crucible to enforce the law. Another part of a theocracy is that anything out of the ordinary is considered unholy and an act of the devil.
In conclusion, mass hysteria is displayed all over. As said before, the mass hysteria of the June 12, 2016 Orlando Nightclub shooting counterparts to the paranoia in the Salem witch trials as displayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Innocent people were killed either for fun or an unjust theocracy. As previously said, mass hysteria is displayed in different ways that people may not recognize. Mass hysteria is an important topic due to it being different. When saying it is different, it means that it is not an illness. Mass hysteria is an outbreak of something unusual, meaning many people do it. In schools mass hysteria is displayed when the “popular” people do something that makes other people want to do it. People that are followers may display or experience mass hysteria.
Work Cited:
Orlando Sentinel 2018
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-orlando-pulse-nightclub-shooting-timeline-htmlstory.html
CBS Interactive Inc. 2018
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/orlando-pulse-nightclub-shooter-omar-mateen-intended-to-attack-disney-shopping-complex-prosecutors-say/
Palm Beach Post August 13,2016
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/omar-mateen-look-into-orlando-shooter-work-history/gjfN4HSEiTHxyiV4Dx4DwI/
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