However this is a very unhealthy way to vent anger. It is destructive to the humanity of those in it. The mobs senseless violence causes the humanity of those in it to be lost. The mobs senseless violence causes a loss of individuality. The mobs senseless violence also causes the loss of empathy towards other humans. Lastly, the mobs senseless violence causes the desensitizing toward evil.
The mobs senseless violence causes a loss of individuality. Individuality is a big part of what it means to be human; it is how humans distinguish people from each other. When in a mob, one gets swept up in the current emotion of the mob and just goes with the flow. When Mrs. Defarge is starting the attack on the Bastille, she orders the assault and the mob overflows the city like a sea and they sweep up all that passes, as if those people don't even have a say in whether they fight or not (p. 217). Later, when Mr. Defarge is also attacking the Bastille, he calls everyone "Jacques" to summon the attack, even if that is not their name (p. 218). When one is in a violent mob they are not distinguished from the others, just as part of a hostile group. This loss of individuality degrades humanity because it takes away the uniqueness each of them have.
The mobs senseless violence causes a loss of empathy toward other humans. Humans are the only living thing able to feel and understand how others are feeling, and this fact is a big part of what it means to be human. Mob violence takes this away because when one is in a mob, he does not care about the person who is being killed, but only wants to see blood. When Charles is tried and proven innocent, the mob cheers him and praises the justice of the ruling. Yet later, when he is tried again and proven guilty, the crowd roars with delight and wants to see him die (p. 338). This is inhumane because the people do not care how Charles feels, they just agree with the current emotion of the mob. Another instance of this is when Foulon gets his head chopped off, stuffed with grass, and paraded around the city on a stick (p. 227). The mob yet again cannot put themselves in someone else's situation and continue the terrible act. This degrades humanity by turning humans into savage monsters.
Lastly, the mobs senseless violence causes the desensitizing toward evil. Being desensitized to evil ruins what it means to be human because humans are created with a conscience and if this is blurred, then so is the humanity of the person. When mobs kill so many people, it is easy to forget that this is wrong. An example of this is when Mr. Lorry says that 52 people were killed in one day and the man he was talking to said, “I love it.” (p. 363.) Loving to see people die is a terrible shame and also very inhumane. Another example is with Foulon: in that situation, Madame Defarge claps as if at a play when she sees Foulon in the streets. This is sick and grotesque and all the people in the mob thought that killing Foulon was a celebration. This definitely ruins humanity because it causes men to think that massacring other men is acceptable and even praiseworthy.
Mob violence cannot be blamed on the individuals in the mob, but on the mob as a whole, because no single person could be that evil without the influence of the mob. By being violent, the people in the mob lose empathy towards others, their individuality, and they also become desensitized to evil. But the people in the mob do not only hurt their own humanity, but also that of those around them, which is definitely against what it means to be human.
