Salem's Syndrome

False memory syndrome is defined by Paul R. McHugh as a condition in which a person's identity and interpersonal relationships are centered around a memory of traumatic experience which is objectively false but in which the person strongly believes. Note that the syndrome is not characterized by false memories as such. We all have memories that are inaccurate. Rather, the syndrome may be diagnosed when the memory is so deeply ingrained that it orients the individual's entire personality and lifestyle, in turn disrupting all sorts of other adaptive behavior...False Memory Syndrome is especially destructive because the person assiduously avoids confrontation with any evidence that might challenge the memory. Thus it takes on a life of its own, encapsulated and resistant to correction. The person may become so focused on memory that he or she may be effectively distracted from coping with the real problems in his or her life(McHugh 66-67).

In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the character Mary Warren is victim to this syndrome and she serves as an exaggeration to the mob-mentality being exhibited by Salem. The town is in hysteria. Following everything the "bewitched" girls say, they form a sort of mob. Parallel to this, Mary cannot stop herself from believing the witchcraft to be true. To stress the mentality of the village, Miller adds the false memory syndrome to Mary Warren as its comparison.

Mary Warren also serves as another comparison to the people of Salem. She attempts to address the truth of how the girls were acting in pretense, but she finds it very difficult to acknowledge(part of the False Memory Syndrome). This leads to her regressing back to believing that the witchcraft is actually true. This compares to the people of Salem because, they are also finding it very difficult to believe that the girls can only be acting in pretense–partly due to the reason that the court doesn't want to acknowledge the errors made. Parallel to the mentality of the people of Salem, Mary Warren's actions serve as a symbol of the town's mentality.