Herd instinct, or herd mentality, is an economics term which describes how people are influenced by those around them to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Forster explores this idea in a few places in A Passage to India. Particularly striking is the courthouse scene.
Mrs. Moore becomes a hero to the Indian people because of her friendliness towards Aziz, and while Adele is in court, a large group of Indians forms...
Herd instinct, or herd mentality, is an economics term which describes how people are influenced by those around them to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Forster explores this idea in a few places in A Passage to India. Particularly striking is the courthouse scene.
Mrs. Moore becomes a hero to the Indian people because of her friendliness towards Aziz, and while Adele is in court, a large group of Indians forms and chants, "Esmiss Esmoor" over and over again. It sounds like Mrs. Moore but the words of her name have been changed making it apparent that most of the people do not even know what they are saying or why they are saying it: "...people who did not know what the syllables meant repeated them like a charm."
A mob of Indian people in the courthouse cheer for Adele when she leaves; she is a hero for having stood against her own people in the trial against Aziz: "...she was drawn into a mass of Indians of the shopkeeping class, and carried by them towards the public exit of the court." There is great chaos outside the court. Most of the people outside the courthouse do not know exactly what took place inside. They love Fielding but hate Adele because she made the accusation against Aziz in the first place. Even though Adele has retracted her accusation and Aziz is free, Fielding still has to rescue her from the mob outside.
These examples show that from Forster's point of view, people tend to follow trends without thinking or understanding them.
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