Mass Hysteria in Salem

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The Salem Witch Trials caused many cases of mass hysteria throughout the village of Salem. The trials represent mass hysteria in the case that there were people inflicting great pains on themselves just to get what they wanted. “Cheever: The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight, and without word nor warnin’ she falls to the floor. Like a struck beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her, and stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw out a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she come to be stabbed, she testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit that pushed it in.” (The Crucible.Arthur Miller. Pg.74) In this case, Abigail has become desperate enough that she has inflicted serious pain on herself. Although she may be thinking clearly about what she wants, her immature wants have caused her to become mentally unstable. Abigail is not he only person in Salem that may be mentally unstable. Tituba also shows signs of mass hysteria. "He say Mr. Parris must be kill! Mr. Parris no goodly man, Mr. Parris mean man and no gentle man, and he bid me rise out of my bed and cut your throat! But i tell him ""No! I dont hate that man. I don't want kill that man"". But he say, ""You work for me, Tituba, and I make you free! I give you pretty dress for you to wear, and put you way high up in the air, and you gone fly back to Barbados!"" And I say, "You lie, Devil, you lie."" And then he come one stormy night to me, and he say, ""Look! I have white people belong to me."" And I look-and there was Goody Good."(The Crucible. Arthur Miller. Pg.47) Another symptom of mass hysteria is beleiving lies that the people involved have made up themselves. The small village of Salem will never be the same after these trials.