Mob mentality was used when an individual follows a group/mob in order to fit in. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home-I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day! With that, I had no option but to join them" (Lee 52). In this passage Scout had two options. She could join the mob and follow them, or she could go home alone.
Making Positive Decisions With The Group There was a study done by Alexander Merone, a researcher at Penn State, in relation to exactly how much mob mentality can impact decisions. He stated that, "it only takes 5% of what the scientists called ‘informed individuals’ to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it” (Hodan). Statistics likes these frequently cause people to view mob mentality, or the way people are influenced by their peers to make decisions, as having a negative connotation. This can be directly related to the story The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy.
Well, the existence of mob mentality in the modern world and in Golding's Lord of the Flies both suggest that the situation occurs because people are influenced by by their peers, the environment, and by their emotions. When in a group, the people around you can influence your morals and decisions. Both Piggy and Ralph discovered this in Golding’s
When faced with a hopeless situation, though, Golding displays that even the most innocent are affected by the mob. An MIT research team who conducted a study of mob mentality states that, “A group of people will often engage in actions that are contrary to the private moral standards of each individual in that group, sweeping otherwise decent individuals into ‘mobs’” (MIT Researchers). This is one of the most important representations of true evil shown by the group of boys who, on the surface, should be the perfect symbol of
‘Can I borrow yours, Ralph, to make a nick in the hilt?’ The boys chattered and danced. The twins continued to grin. ‘There was lashings of blood,’said Jack, laughing and shuddering, ‘you should have seen it!’” (40). Jack is so extremely excited to share his triumph with Ralph. By explaining in detail what the blood was like, it shows that he shows pure enjoyment of killing the animal.
I find it disgusting and wrong. Mob mentality is is used to refer to unique behavioral characteristics that emerge when people are in large groups” (Smith). A main factor in why it happens is because people want to fit in and fall for peer pressure. They want to be liked and be apart of something (Smith). In the article, Smith states “Another factor in mob mentality is the sense of confusion or even panic that can exist in a large group.
Cut his throat! Spill his blood!” (Golding 152). This terrifying chant shows the boy’s primitive instincts, especially Jack’s, who ordered them to shout. Instead of checking on the moving object, he instantly assumes it is a dangerous ‘beast.’ On the next page, Golding states, “Even in the rain they could see how small a beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand,” (Golding 153). This line informs the reader that the ‘beast’ murdered by the boys is really Simon, another boy on the island.
Mob mentality is a terrible occurring mind set that unfornatualty all people get sucked into at one point or another in their lifetime. The definition of a mob mentality is unique behavioral characteristics that come out when a bunch of angry people are in large groups together. (Smith 1). Mob mentality happens because people tend to do what others are doing around them (Smith 1). Like peer pressure, people feel a pressure to do what everyone else is doing for fear of displacement.
In life good can conquer evil, but evil can also conquer good. Does William Golding show the forces of evil overtaking the forces of good in majority of the characters in the book Lord of the Flies? In William Golding’s novel a group of adolescence boys crash land on an island while they were trying to escape nuclear war. As the story unfolds, the boys try to keep order in what they do in hopes of being rescued. But, the natural instincts of man make them do things they normally would not have thought of if it were not for their new environment.
In contradiction with Ralph, Jack only focuses the important to satisfy his own desire. In the beginning of the novel, he wanted to be the leader however, the boys elected Ralph as the leader. His desire for power enhanced more after he become the leader for his hunters group and later become the “chief” of his own tribe. He leaves Ralph group and influenced the boys to be in his tribe by using “beast” as his subject matter. Last but not least, we can also see the negative consequences of war.