The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street '

Herd behavior is when individuals in a group make a choice and everyone else unconsciously follows them. This usually takes place when under pressure or while in danger. Either good or bad decisions can come from this. In the teleplay “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” written by Rod Serling, the article “Why Do People Follow the Crowd” written by ABC News, and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the three sources all discuss how mob mentality and herd behavior can negatively affect people’s morals and thinking process. Mob mentality and herd behavior will inevitably lead to a loss of integrity and common sense, since members will follow the group and not their on free will, which leads to a negative

In the teleplay “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” written by Rod Serling, a small street in a suburban American town falls into chaos after they lose all electricity, and in an effort to find the monsters responsible, they become animals. They search for a scapegoat and let their imagination et the best of them because “for a moment their fear almost turns their walk into a wild stampede, but Steve's voice, loud, incisive, and commanding, makes them stop. ‘Wait a minute...wait a minute! Let's not be a mob!’ The people stop as a group, seem to pause for a moment, and then much more quietly and slowly start to walk across the street. ” (Rod Serling ?). The residents of Maple Street fall victim to herd mentality. They rush to find the culprit and they lose all sense of moral and judgement. As they are about to become a mob they listen to Steve as he advises that they do not. All the residents of Maple Street listen to him and sure, he did use mob mentality to do good, but it goes to show the amount of power one man holds. Similarly, in the article “Why People Follow The Crowd” written by ABC News, the article discusses how humans are willing to let go of their beliefs, morals, and

During World War 2, Hitler is able to gain popularity by manipulating the German people's’ minds and using mod mentality so the German people “know what their eyes are telling them, [but] they choose to ignore it, and go along with the group to belong to the group,” (ABC News 23). People choose to ignore what they see and go with the crowd because they believe that the crowd is always right. This is not always the case because when the Germans follow Hitler, it ensues in chaos. When people become part of a group, they worry about the groups needs and not the individuals. They also can tend to all think alike causing them to lose their independent thoughts. In virtue of this, individuals can become violent and rowdy because a single member of the group is, making everyone else feel that it's okay. Similar to both sources, herd behavior can have a negative affect, even if the victims are not involved directly. Comparably in the story “A Very Old Man with Enormous WIngs” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, an angel falls