The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

The key to understanding the strength of mass movements lies in their emphasis on united action and self-sacrifice. These appeal to the frustrated, who are “conscious of an irremediably blemished self” (59). Hoffer explains that Part 3 features generalizations from selective evidence, as well as exaggerations, for it is intended to provoke discussion, not to serve as a final word.

Section 1: “Identification with a Collective Whole”

Self-sacrifice demands the obliteration of the individual. At the same time, those who most successfully resist mass movements are often those who already belong to a stable social structure. Once they find themselves inside the mass movement, fanatics yield everything and become totally submissive even to the point of cowardice. When the movement is threatened by outsiders, however, these same submissive cowards often fight with incredible ferocity.

Section 2: “Make-believe”

Mass movements make effective use of theater. When a fanatic comes to believe that he or she plays an important role in a larger drama that features parades and ritual, the fanatic becomes eager to kill or even to die what he or she knows will be perceived as a heroic death. Theater also separates the fanatic from the despised self.