The Mob’s Escalation

Sanctuary

Public outrage grows from gossip into spectacle and finally into attempted extrajudicial punishment.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Town Gossip Town Gossip from "Sanctuary". Town Gossip Circulation Stories about Temple Drake, Horace Benbow, and Lee Goodwin travel through hotels, churches, and streets.

Town Gossip from "Sanctuary". Town Gossip Circulation Stories about Temple Drake, Horace Benbow, and Lee Goodwin travel through hotels, churches, and streets.

Town Gossip Circulation Stories about Temple Drake, Horace Benbow, and Lee Goodwin travel through hotels, churches, and streets. Simplification Complicated events become accusations about sex, drinking, and family honor. Pressure The rumor network prepares the town to interpret every later fact as confirmation.

Church Respectability Church Respectability from "Sanctuary". Church Respectability Moral Campaign Church women force Ruby Lamar and the child from the hotel.

Church Respectability from "Sanctuary". Church Respectability Moral Campaign Church women force Ruby Lamar and the child from the hotel.

Church Respectability Moral Campaign Church women force Ruby Lamar and the child from the hotel. Institutional Cowardice The hotel proprietor yields to the committee while denying personal responsibility. Consequence Respectability converts homelessness into a public punishment.

The Courthouse Crowd The Courthouse Crowd from "Sanctuary". The Courthouse Crowd Spectators The trial draws townspeople who consume Temple Drake’s suffering as communal drama.

The Courthouse Crowd from "Sanctuary". The Courthouse Crowd Spectators The trial draws townspeople who consume Temple Drake’s suffering as communal drama.

The Courthouse Crowd Spectators The trial draws townspeople who consume Temple Drake’s suffering as communal drama. Judgment The crowd’s silence and attention magnify the prosecutor’s moral language. Release When the verdict fails to satisfy them, spectators become potential executioners.

The Jail Vigil The Jail Vigil from "Sanctuary". The Jail Vigil Gathering Men and boys surround Jefferson jail after Lee Goodwin’s acquittal.

The Jail Vigil Gathering Men and boys surround Jefferson jail after Lee Goodwin’s acquittal. Performance A speaker, deputies, and onlookers turn threatened violence into a public show. Tension The sheriff recognizes that a real mob would act more quickly and quietly.

The Burning Attempt The Burning Attempt from "Sanctuary". The Burning Attempt Fire Attackers pour gasoline onto the jail’s vacant lot and attempt to burn Lee Goodwin.

The Burning Attempt from "Sanctuary". The Burning Attempt Fire Attackers pour gasoline onto the jail’s vacant lot and attempt to burn Lee Goodwin.

The Burning Attempt Fire Attackers pour gasoline onto the jail’s vacant lot and attempt to burn Lee Goodwin. Failed Target The fire consumes a structure rather than the prisoner, while one attacker is badly burned. Continuation The failed lynching proves that the verdict ended legal danger but not collective violence.

Late May

Mid June

June 20 afternoon

June 20 evening

June 20 near midnight