ipl-logo

Suicide In Jonestown

998 Words4 Pages

JONESTOWN What happens when you combine a ruthless leader’s hypnotic voice and disturbing ideas with average, vulnerable people? Almost 1,000 people lost in a trance, lies and deception, ending with a mass suicide killing over 900 people. More specifically; Jonestown.
Lead by a man named James Jones, Jonestown was the place where over 900 men, women, and children lost their lives after drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. James Jones was the pastor of a church in Southern California; a church by the name of Peoples Temple. In his early life, Jones was constantly left alone while his parents were working. Because of this, Jones would mostly always end up going to church with his neighbor, and by the age of ten, he became personally interested …show more content…

There, they began to speak publicly, describing the events that occurred in Jonestown. As many people believed it was a safe and sane place to be, there were allegations of abuse towards the members who didn’t do as they were told, and that sometimes, they were even killed. Men with machine guns would stand guard, 24 hours a day, originally to protect the group from outsiders or armies with aims to take down the cult. Later on, that changed, and the men stood guard to make sure no one got in, or out. This being told to the public by those who escaped raised some suspicions in California Congressman Leo J. Ryan. The suspicions of Jonestown and what had occurred there lead Ryan to investigate Jonestown for himself. With a film crew in hand, Ryan led the investigation of Jonestown and during that time, Ryan and his crew were shown around the camp, the pavilion, and the main office where Jones lived. The day Ryan and his crew investigated Jonestown was the last day they were to spend …show more content…

Jonestown was created to bring peace to those of People’s Temple, but instead, led them to commit suicide via cyanide-laced juice. James Jones conducted “loyalty drills” in the middle of the night, later telling the people they were not going to die. A total of 918 people lost their lives over the course of the five years that Jonestown was thriving, with very little survivors. James Jones will always be remembered as the cult leader of People’s Temple who led many to their deaths. No one saw this coming, and not many even began to think that this massacre would take place. It is disturbing to see what lies within the walls of our sanity; or in this case,

Show More
Related

  • Why Did Jones Convince People To Move To 1860

    246 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are articles that ask the question, how did Jones convince people to move to this settlement in the middle of nowhere? It was a slow gradual change. There were many who stated with him from his first church in Indianapolis, but many did leave along the way. As Jones went on he gained more loyal supporters. He used religious tactics at first, preaching messages from the Bible but as he went on his message changed after he had convinced these people to stay with him.

    Read More

  • Henry Wirz Research Paper

    740 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most suffered from PTSD for the rest of their lives, along with other permanent mental and physical damage. After returning home, the Union soldiers told stories of the hardships they endured at the Andersonville Prison. Northerners and Southerners alike were appalled after finding out what was really going on in Southern prison camps. Demanding someone be blamed for these horrors, government officials asked those involved, and the answer was most often the same: nearly 150 former prisoners, guards, civilians, and medical staff testified that Wirz was to be blamed, as he had violated the laws of war by not only withholding available food and supplies, but also by issuing orders that resulted in the death of Union prisoners of war. Henry Wirz was charged with all of the deaths that occurred at the Andersonville prison.

    Read More

  • Gene Finny: The Super Suicide Society Of Summer Session

    371 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story starts off with the narrator, Gene Forrester, visiting his old school, Devon School, in Devon, New Hampshire. At Devon School, he recollects the time he spent there, but he started off the story in the summer of 1942, when Gene was sixteen. That summer (which is referred to as “gypsy summer”), Gene and his best friend Finny stayed at Devon School for summer session which was just summer school. During the “gypsy summer” they had just had fun and played games while attending a couple of classes. During that summer, Finny and Gene connected deeply, with Gene showing more of the connection that Finny.

    Read More

  • Waco Siege Research Papers

    1111 Words  | 5 Pages

    Waco Siege The Branch Davidians were a “Christian” group, but changed the words of the Bible, they often used the Bible for an excuse so that they don’t have a lot of people thinking they're up to something. Over 80 people died due to the FBI having to send out a giant gas attack. The main person involved, David Koresh, died because of a gunshot to the head. The Waco Siege is an event that left people dumbfounded, wondering how anyone could do something so terrible. The Waco Siege is an important event in history because the Branch Davidians were going nuts and tried killing innocent little kids, research found.

    Read More

  • Hellhole Of Andersonville

    1011 Words  | 5 Pages

    These deaths occurred because of diseases and afflictions resulting from the crowded conditions, lack of adequate shelter, poor water supply, and nutritional needs not being met. Deaths also resulted from violence within Andersonville. This violence came in the form of gunshots from guards killing prisoners crossing the deadline and from violent encounters within the prison community itself, including six executions carried out against individuals convicted by the prisoners themselves. The hell that was Andersonville finally ended with the South’s surrender April

    Read More

  • The Conditions And Mismanagement Of Andersonville Prison

    1663 Words  | 7 Pages

    The condition and mismanagement of Andersonville prison, also known as Camp Sumter, cause thousands of Union deaths. John L Ransom, an Union soldier in his twenties, was captured in 1863 by the Confederacy and sent to Andersonville prison. In his early days in the prison he started writing a diary in which he described his day-to-day life in Andersonville. He explained the food given to the prisoners got less in quantity and bad in quality. To avoid prisoners from escaping, any prisoner who lingered around the prison walls resulted in getting shot immediately.

    Read More

  • Mary Harris Jones Dbq

    899 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jones was present during the Ludlow Massacre and Colorado Coal Strike in 1913 (Ford 265). She testified before Congress about the twenty women and children who were killed by the Colorado militia (Ford 265). She tried to bring an end to the violence by lobbying President Wilson and creating protest groups for miners (Ford 265). She tried to make a change for the better after she saw the violence against the women and children during that

    Read More

  • Jim Jones Quotes

    1082 Words  | 5 Pages

    AQUINAS: “These people killed their children and then themselves because of their faith in Jim Jones. How could someone with no motives of credibility be followed with such devotion? How could this be possible?” HUME: “I do not understand why they all killed themselves, but I do understand why they could follow him.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Irony In Fallen Angels

    509 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers tells the story of soldiers who struggles with a problem involving what is right and wrong in war. Fallen Angels set in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, the story introduces the main character Perry, who faces obstacles, including death and killing. The author’s use of literary devices, specifically imagery, irony, and metaphors convey the theme warfare often forces soldiers to reconsider their traditional notions of right and wrong. The author employs imagery to express the theme that warfare often forces soldiers to reconsider their traditional notions of right and wrong.

    Read More

  • Jim Jones And The People's Temple Essay

    1438 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mass suicide was the horrific finale of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown. Jim Jones always made a type of dress rehearsal for whenever the time came to produce the mass suicide. No one ever knew whether, it was the real-deal, or if it was just another rehearsal directed by Jim Jones. “ ‘This punch is going to be passed out to everyone here,’ we all drank our punch and then he said, ‘You just drank poison and we’re all going to die in this church right here, as one’ the women were just screaming and others just sat there.” “And all the sudden Jim says, ‘That wasn’t poison you drank’.”

    Read More

  • Stanley Jones Accomplishments

    1495 Words  | 6 Pages

    He spoke out against becoming judgemental and making the Gospel seem exclusively for Western Christians. Thus, Jones’ work in contextualizing the Gospel and supporting insider movements as contributed significantly to missiology. (4) Moreover, Jones’ exhibited how to advocate for reconciliation. His work encourages us to strive to be at peace with everyone. (5) Finally, the prayer-filled life he displayed throughout his lifetime serves as a beautiful reminder of the importance of acting in accordance with God and displaying Christlikeness whenever we are given the opportunity to serve others.

    Read More

  • Internal Conflict In A Separate Peace

    861 Words  | 4 Pages

    As Gene explores his old school grounds, he reminisces on the events that happened at the tree by the creek. He recalls that “...this was the Summer Session, just established to keep up with the pace of the war... The class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up

    Read More

  • Suicide In Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why

    1004 Words  | 5 Pages

    Suicide has become a very touchy topic among the hoi polloi for various reasons. Most people have at least known someone who had thoughts about taking their life, attempted to take their life, or even succeeded in taking their life. When these things happen, and in today’s world it happens a lot, the outside person witnessing another's suicidal tendencies, wonders why. They seem to never get a solid answer; however, the book written by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why sheds some insight on how a suicidal person may feel or why they would commit suicide. Throughout this book, a young girl named Hannah takes the reader through multiple locations, each one with a different story and reason why for her death.

    Read More

  • Suicide In The 19th Century

    1094 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the nineteenth century, society had drastically different viewpoints compared to today, and it wasn’t just on one topic, they varied. One of those topics was suicide, and from our readings of the appendices you get the understanding of how suicide was looked at during the 19th Century. Suicide back then was looked down upon, and if someone were to commit suicide, they would be deemed as insane. From William Rowleys’ excerpt in Appendix A, he says “The remote causes of suicide are similar to those of insanity-- perturbations of mind, or corporeal acrimony.” (Shelley 121)

    Read More

  • Suicide In Public Schools Research Paper

    187 Words  | 1 Pages

    In order to prevent the suicide rate of LGBT youth from increasing a new sex ed curriculum should be added to public schools. This curriculum should not only discuss the risks of having unprotected sex and how to have safe sex but also touch on the subject of sexual orientation and gender identity. America like many other societies throughout the world fears the “unknown” and “unexplainable” and although younger generations seem to be showing a greater understanding towards these topics they are both still fairly unfamiliar and taboo to talk about. A paradox is formed when people are afraid to speak about a topic when they believe they are not informed enough but there is no way to become informed by refusing to speak and learn about said

    Read More

More about Suicide In Jonestown

Open Document