Human Nature is Prone to Mass Hysteria: The Crucible and Lindy Chamberlain Case

Is Arthur Miller’s The Crucible all about hysteria and does hysteria relate to the cold-hearted story of Lindy Chamberlain? Or is there more to be explained? Jorja Belton explores how human nature is prone to fits of hysteria which supplant logic and generate fear within Arthur Miller’s play and the Lindy Chamberlain case.

“It's such a magical mysteria. When you get that feelin', better start believin'. 'Cause it's a miracle, oh say you will, ooh babe. Hysteria when you're near”. In a time where people believed in magical, mystical beings like witches, the Devil and God, imagine being compelled to do whatever the judge tells you to do because of some false accusation against you? Well, these false accusations in both Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible and also where Lindy Chamberlain found herself in jail of a false accusation for the murder of her daughter Azaria, which caused the hysteria and controversy between the communities. Hysteria has the power to manipulate, to influence and to divide a vulnerable community, by making what seemingly ordinary people think illogically. Turning neighbour against neighbour I say! There are many cases of hysteria within the past. Many hysteria cases includes the 300 children and adults to collapse at Midland marching band contest in July 1986, never mind 9/11 and the red scare.

Hysteria has the ability to make people turn on others for their own selfish gain. It feeds on fear that often spirals into a panic. The Lindy Chamberlain case and The Crucible both show examples of hysteria by the public and community groups that which feed off each other’s emotional reaction that causes the panic to escalate even further. There are many examples of hysteria in the past, which is found in, of course the Salem witch trials, Midland marching band contest, red scare and Nazis. However, these examples are of the past and there are very few mass hysterias in the present. But the real question is why are humans prone to fits of hysteria? Funny fact is and it might seem sexist, but women are most involved in many hysterias, hysteria such as The Crucible with the group of young girls accusing others and the majority of them was also women. So far what does this say about women? It sounds so sexist, so stupid and so bias to say the least. And so, it seems that women are the cause of most known hysteria. 

Have you ever heard of Salem Massachusetts? Well, the town of Salem was once a peaceful, God believing community before accusations of witchcraft created conflict and divided the Salem people by turning neighbour against neighbour. Arthur Miller has created a play ‘The Crucible’ based on the real deaths of 19 innocent people who were falsely accused and hanged for witchcraft. However, the play and the real-life events definitely demonstrates how human nature is unpredictable and cannot be trusted. How would you feel if everyone was accusing you of anything and everything, even though you know you had nothing to do with the devil? Consequently, the way the Salem citizens have acted in The Crucible suggests that human nature is dependant on a leader to show them what is right and wrong. Also, humans can be good and honourable, but in Thomas Putnam’s and Abigail William’s case, they can also be immoral, greedy and egotistical.

These strict Puritans were extremely determined to save the town from the devil’s clutches. But people like Thomas Putnam and Abigail Williams make it very difficult as they help perpetuate hysteria and use it for their own gain as Putnam takes advantage of accusing Francis Nurse. The money-grubbing man had a grudge against Francis Nurse because Francis prevented his brother in law from being elected as the minister, therefore he uses the witch trials to gain wealth and power by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying their land. How unfair? But, unlike Thomas Putnam, Abigail Williams uses hysteria as an opportunity to her advantage to accuse Elizabeth Proctor. Although, the difference between both characters are that Abigail uses it to get only one thing, John Proctor, and not for wealth, greed or gain. She has the power to manipulate people into believing she is innocent and others are the devils people only to save herself an example is when Abigail says “I have been hurt, Mr Danforth: I have seen my blood runnin’ out! I have been near murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the devil’s people.” These characters are important within the play as they both have pivotal moments that influence the course of action and eventually, their motivations are revealed. Abigail runs away and Putnam is reviled. Overall, their role in the play is in fact crucial. Thomas Putnam perpetuates the idea that witchcraft exists, profit by taking the victims’ land, and Abigail perpetuates it just to get to John Proctor.

“A dingo took my baby” - Lindy Chamberlain

However, within the play The Crucible, there are many themes involved and they are jealousy, reputation, love and of course hysteria. Jealousy is treacherous! In The Crucible jealousy is found when Abigail Williams uses the chance to accuse Elizabeth Proctor to get to John Proctor, but as for Thomas Putnam he is jealous of all the land he can have and decides to take them. It is also found in the Lindy Chamberlain case as all the women in the public are jealous of her beauty because she seems so virtuous. Another theme is of course hysteria as it is found in both cases.

Lindy Chamberlain is mother of three children two boys and a baby girl Azaria. Azaria the baby girl and the Chamberlains daughter disappeared from Ayer’s Rock campsite in August 17th, 1980. However, the parents were immediately accused when Lindy claimed the baby had been taken by a dingo and no one believed her. The police and the community struggled to understand how a usually shy creature could possibly take a baby and as Lindy Chamberlain said “…they had nothing else to do…” so they immediately blamed her for the murder of baby Azaria. However, the police struggled to prove otherwise. In a court system it is innocent till proven guilty but for Lindy it was guilty as charged. The city folk responded poorly to Lindy Chamberlain’s case by showing so much anger, disgust and hatred. People did not want to believe the evidence provided right in front of their faces because they were not willing to believe that a dingo could possibly take a baby during sleep and kill therefore immediately pinned the killing on Lindy Chamberlain. They were intolerant to her beliefs. Importantly, the four corners magazine say that the public instantly pinned her as guilty and murderer without even hearing her out even saying “We’ve got the bitch.” They reacted to how she showed her emotions during the trial and after and even going to lengths saying thing like “she showed neither anger nor distress…” and “seemingly unfeeling…” How the Aussie society treated Lindy Chamberlain was extremely cruel and unfair because nobody expects how to react when going through all that has happened. Predictably, the case led to Lindy been sent to jail for three years before having six years’ worth of trial.

Is the media to blame? In her case the public could also have been influenced by biased news media, as the media has a role of showing more than one side of the story and obviously showing the wrong one. Lindy Chamberlain not only polarised the community by showing their human nature, but it also divided her family because of the accusations and assumptions made towards them. The public definitely responded poorly to her case because they were still unaware of the full story and did not understand how a dingo could have possibly taken a baby. However, trial by media is where someone is being judged or trialled and portrayed by the media to decide what the public believes in. And that is exactly how the media worked in Lindy Chamberlain’s case.

The concept of mass hysteria is still relevant today because it is triggered by people that think irrationally and do not think illogically and sadly it still happens today in the modern society. Nevertheless, any one is susceptible to hysteria. As if it is almost contagious. Did you know that hysteria used to be a medical problem back in the Victorian era and was used as a diagnoses until doctors started calling it by other names like depression and cancer even? Hysteria was removed from diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980. It was removed because it was something you could take control of and not an illness.

Thus, Lindy Chamberlain and The Crucible are perfect examples of mass hysteria. In both cases, people were wrongfully convicted while there was a lack of evidence. Furthermore, the public in both cases were desperate for the truth and therefore created hysteria, and it did not help either that people had their own opinions on how the convicted should have gone.