An Exploration of Mob Mentality in The Visit

The actions involved in ‘mob mentality’ are a prominent and recurring trend in history, dating back to the starting of human interaction. Full social unity was once required for the survival and comfort of a group of people. Mob mentality is not solely “social unity” or the way in which people are influenced by their peers or a leader to behave and believe a certain way it generally consists of an element of violence. Men and women in a mob tend to neglect their person inhibitions and follow the impulses of the group, as a result creating violent acts ‘easier’ to commit (due to the perceived lack of individual consequences). In the play The Go to, a town of impoverished individuals becomes the center of attention when a wealthy native comes back to exact long awaited revenge. She gives them a bargain that could save them and the future of their town for the price of one man’s head, sending the complete group into a tailspin centered on the choice of whether to go via with the terms of the bargain or not. Friederich Dürrenmatt showcases the evolution of groupthink and the violence of mob mentality by way of the men and women of Güllen as they contemplate how to go about handling their portion of the bargain and commence to act in response to the deal presented to them.

The Go to starts out with a group of people sitting by the town train station awaiting the arrival of the well-known and immensely wealthy Claire Zachanassian, an event in which every person in the town has taken portion in. They hope to acquire a sizeable donation from the heiress to save their wretched property. Upon Claire’s appearance, the expected present is supplied via a Faustian bargain that Zachanassian has waited years to present. At the town dinner party she calmly states, “One billion for Güllen, if someone kills Alfred Ill” (Dürrenmatt 35). Following a brief moment of shocked silence, the Mayor of Güllen stands up and retorts, “In the name of the town of Güllen, I reject your offer… We would rather be poor than have blood on our hands.” This proclamation is met with tremendous applause (35). The ‘tremendous applause’ that the group quickly responds with is a signal of the townspeople’s affirmation of the Mayor’s response to Claire’s supply, and serves as a primitive indication of the groupthink that is developed all through the play. It is crucial to note that, typically, mobs that commit acts of violence generally very first come with each other as a group for a benign explanation or commonality (such as this non-malicious agreement). While agreeing with the mayor’s selection offered the quick consequence of acquiring no income and maintaining a clean conscience, this agreement also biased the thoughts of every townsperson from the outset due to the influence of whatever the group and its leaders were also thinking. The expansion of groupthink and the behavior changes of the townspeople are additional probed as Zachanassian awaits her justice.

The actions of the Gülleners create steadily all through Act II, going from subtle behavior changes to actual physical intimidation (the closest they get to violence till that point). This adjust showcases the complexity of mob mentality and the evolution of group behavior. Dürrenmatt also incorporates important foreshadowing that tremendously adds to the suspense of the inevitable mob killing of Ill. It is quite crucial to note that there is not a single, defined leader who directly interacts with the townspeople to influence these alterations (as the Mayor did in Act I). There is also a direct contrast among the changes becoming seasoned by the townspeople and Claire, as she is static in the course of this act, continuing to order folks about even though sitting on her balcony and watching the townspeople under. She is not the “official” leader of group, but it is straightforward to argue that her unchanging presence and expectation of the completion of her bargain puts her in a position to (indirectly) influence the evolution of the townspeople’s behavior. These adjustments are also not shown by way of the entire group at as soon as, but by way of smaller sized groups and then through the town leaders. At the beginning of the act, the audience sees Ill’s insecurity within his own family circumstance, as he tells his young children that their mother could be there for them even if he was not. Buyers then come into his store, wearing new, pricey clothing and proceeding to charge even a lot more pricey items to their accounts. Ill notices and points out the fact that the day prior to, they could not afford any of these things. 1 of the clients responds, “It’s simply because we stand by you. We stick by our Ill. Firm as a rock” (41). These folks are not charging such pricey items to their accounts simply because they have the cash to pay for them or because they are in help of Ill they are anticipating receiving the money that they require to get things such as these. Interactions with the Police Officer, Mayor, and Pastor all add suspicion and evidence for Ill’s insecurity, as they also have new footwear, a gold tooth, and advice for ‘following the way of repentance’. The townspeople continue to deny that they are altering due to the fact of the cash, but it is clear to the audience that each and every of them has decided that someone else is going to total the town’s end of the bargain.

While this dominant groupthink is an crucial aspect of mob mentality, the actual violence usually associated with mob action is inched towards at the finish of Act II at the train station, when the townspeople come together to intimidate Ill into staying in town. Although no a single touches him, the crowd encircles him, creating him feel as if he cannot leave. He misses his train since he thinks that a single of them will hold him back if he tries to step off of the platform. The entire group coming collectively and acting the very same way at this point shows that the “mob has made up its mind” and that the bargain is becoming accepted. Each and every person townsperson came to the identical conclusion, and even although such a conclusion is the opposite of what the town originally planned, the loss of person consequence that a member of a mob experiences enables violence to come less difficult to everybody. The inescapable ending to the bargain is brought about by an act of correct violence, below the direction of the Mayor as the distinct leader in Act III.

Inevitably, the agreement is completed and the townspeople of Güllen get the verify to save their town. The true emergence of Claire Zachanassian’s function as the indirect orchestrator for the formation of the mob is shown in Act III, when she is conversing with the Teacher and the Physician. As they are detailing the devastation of their town, she calmly states an unexpected truth about their circumstance: “I own [the factories]…I had my agents acquire the complete mess and shut each company down…..I decided I would come back 1 day. Now I set the circumstances, I drive the bargain” (71-72). She decided to force the town to betray one of their most respected members, following causing their economic downfall, for her extended awaited vengeance. Her exclamation also points out the notion that she is the correct, though somewhat indirect, leader, as she is the one particular setting the circumstances of their agreement. Later, there is a town gathering in the Golden Apostle Hotel exactly where a vote is taken, unanimously in favor of killing Ill. The violence of murder is naturally going to happen, marking the final improvement in the escalation of the mob violence in Güllen. The Mayor leads the Gülleners by directly speaking about the crime that Ill has committed and saying that it is time for the town to exact justice upon the man who brought on them their poverty. The Teacher reiterated this justification prior to the gathering when he told Ill, “The temptation is as well fantastic and our poverty is as well wretched” (85). The townspeople huddle about Ill, and when they step back, he is dead. The completion of the escalation of violence ends with this group murder, an act committed by the complete mob, not just 1 particular person, and the bargain that they after fervently refused has been completed.

Friederich Dürrenmatt showed the evolution of groupthink and the violence of a mob through Güllen as its individuals contemplated how to deal with their portion of the bargain and began to act in response to the deal, which eventually resulted in the death of 1 of their most respected friends. In the final lines of the play, the consequences of the murder are already evident, as everyone prays collectively for the “preservation of peace and freedom”. Already getting worried about losing their “good fortune” shows the effect that the murder had on them, even if they did it as a group. Every single individual will have to commit the rest of his or her life with the death of Alfred Ill on his or her conscience, as individual consequences come back when the mob dissolves.