# Crowds — The Crowd character guide

> Crowds in The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Crowds, Crowds Crowds, Crowds

**First appearance:** 0002-the-crowd

## Snapshot

Not a mob but a single psychological being — a collective mind that thinks in images, feels in extremes, and dissolves the will of every person inside it.

## Who they are

Le Bon's true protagonist is the organised crowd: any gathering, or even a whole nation, in which conscious personality vanishes and sentiments turn in one direction. It is easily heroic and easily criminal, intolerant yet servile before strong authority, and it lowers the intelligence of each member while amplifying his feeling. Understanding this strange composite creature is the key to everything the book argues about politics, religion, and history.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_psychological_

The crowds are observed and analyzed by the narrator, who dissects their collective behavior and psychology.

### [Napoleon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/napoleon)

_social_

The crowds are drawn to Napoleon as a charismatic leader and object of mass adulation.

### [The Hero](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/the_hero)

_psychological_

The crowds project their ideals onto The Hero, who embodies their collective aspirations and myths.

### [Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/caesar)

_social_

Caesar is a historical archetype of a leader who commands the masses through spectacle and authority.

### [Robespierre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/robespierre)

_psychological_

Robespierre both manipulates and is consumed by the revolutionary crowds, embodying their fervor and terror.

### [Taine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/taine)

_psychological_

Taine is a historian who analyzes the crowds as a destructive, irrational force in history.

### [Buddha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/buddha)

_social_

Buddha represents a spiritual leader whose teachings contrast with the herd mentality of crowds.

### [Mr. Davey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/mr_davey)

_social_

Mr. Davey is an individual observer or participant who interacts with the crowds in a specific scene.

### [Muhammad](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/muhammad)

_social_

Muhammad is referenced as a religious leader who mobilized crowds through faith and prophecy.

### [Jesus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/jesus)

_social_

Jesus is depicted as a figure who attracted and was ultimately betrayed by the crowds.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_psychological_

The crowds are observed and analyzed by the narrator, who dissects their collective behavior and psychology.

### [Napoleon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/napoleon)

_social_

The crowds are drawn to Napoleon as a charismatic leader and object of mass adulation.

## In the story

### [The Crowd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/the-crowd)

The central subject of the chapter, analyzed as a psychological entity with distinct traits.

### [Book I: The Mind of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/book-i-the-mind-of-crowds)

The central subject of the chapter, analyzed for their psychological traits and behaviors.

### [General Characteristics of Crowds—Psychological Law of Their Mental Unity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/i-general-characteristics-of-crowds-psychological-law-of-their-mental-unity)

The central subject of the chapter, described as forming a collective mind.

### [The Sentiments and Morality of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/ii-the-sentiments-and-morality-of-crowds)

Central subject of the chapter; analyzed for their impulsiveness, mobility, irritability, intolerance, and dual morality.

### [1: Impulsiveness, Mobility, and Irritability of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-impulsiveness-mobility-and-irritability-of-crowds)

Central subject of the chapter; described as impulsive, mobile, and irritable, acting on external stimuli without premeditation.

### [The Suggestibility and Credulity of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-the-suggestibility-and-credulity-of-crowds)

Described as perpetually hovering on the borderland of unconsciousness, readily yielding to suggestions, and excessively credulous.

### [The Exaggeration and Ingenuousness of the Sentiments of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/3-the-exaggeration-and-ingenuousness-of-the-sentiments-of-crowds)

The central subject of the chapter, analyzed for their tendency to exaggerate sentiments and act without doubt or responsibility.

### [The Intolerance, Dictatorialness and Conservatism of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/4-the-intolerance-dictatorialness-and-conservatism-of-crowds)

Crowds are described as intolerant, dictatorial, and conservative, accepting only simple and extreme sentiments, and showing docile respect for force.

### [The Morality of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/5-the-morality-of-crowds)

Central subject of the chapter; analyzed for their moral duality—capable of both ferocity and lofty devotion.

### [III: The Ideas, Reasoning Power, and Imagination of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iii-the-ideas-reasoning-power-and-imagination-of-crowds)

Central subject of the chapter; analyzed for their reasoning, imagination, and susceptibility to simplified ideas.

### [The Ideas of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-the-ideas-of-crowds)

Central subject of the chapter; discussed in terms of how they receive, transform, and are driven by ideas.

### [The Reasoning Power of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-the-reasoning-power-of-crowds)

The subject of the chapter, described as reasoning through superficial associations and generalizations, incapable of logical argumentation.

### [The Imagination of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/3-the-imagination-of-crowds)

Central subject; described as thinking in images, being highly suggestible, and easily impressed by the marvellous.

### [Book II: The Opinions and Beliefs of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/book-ii-the-opinions-and-beliefs-of-crowds)

The central subject of the chapter, analyzed for their susceptibility to beliefs and opinions.

### [I: Remote Factors of the Opinions and Beliefs of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/i-remote-factors-of-the-opinions-and-beliefs-of-crowds)

Crowds are the subject of analysis, described as conservative and tenacious in clinging to traditions.

### [Traditions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-traditions)

Crowds are described as the most obstinate maintainers of traditional ideas, clinging tenaciously to them and opposing change.

### [Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/3-time)

Crowds are the subject of the analysis, whose opinions and beliefs are shaped by time.

### [Political and Social Institutions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/4-political-and-social-institutions)

Crowds are discussed as being influenced by illusions and words rather than by institutions themselves.

### [II: The Immediate Factors of the Opinions of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/ii-the-immediate-factors-of-the-opinions-of-crowds)

The central subject of the chapter, analyzed for their receptivity to images, words, and formulas, and their resistance to logical reasoning.

### [Images, Words, and Formulas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-images-words-and-formulas)

The primary subject of the chapter, whose imagination is easily swayed by words and formulas that evoke powerful images.

### [Illusions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-illusions)

Crowds are described as always preferring illusions to truth and as being the primary subjects influenced by illusions throughout history.

### [Experience](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/3-experience)

The subject of the chapter; crowds are the entities whose minds are shaped by repeated experiences.

### [The Leaders of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-the-leaders-of-crowds)

Described as a servile flock that instinctively obeys a leader and is incapable of doing without a master.

### [The Means of Action of the Leaders: Affirmation, Repetition, Contagion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-the-means-of-action-of-the-leaders-affirmation-repetition-contagion)

Central subject; analyzed for their susceptibility to affirmation, repetition, and contagion.

### [IV: Limitations of the Variability of the Beliefs and Opinions of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iv-limitations-of-the-variability-of-the-beliefs-and-opinions-of-crowds)

Crowds are the central subject, their beliefs divided into permanent and transitory categories; their opinions are increasingly changeable due to the weakening of general beliefs and the influence of the press.

### [The Changeable Opinions of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/2-the-changeable-opinions-of-crowds)

Discussed as the primary subject of the chapter, whose opinions are increasingly changeable and indifferent.

### [Book III: The Classification and Description of the Different Kinds of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/book-iii-the-classification-and-description-of-the-different-kinds-of-crowds)

The primary subject of classification and description in this chapter.

### [The Classification of Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/i-the-classification-of-crowds)

Central subject of classification into heterogeneous and homogeneous types.

### [Heterogeneous Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/1-heterogeneous-crowds)

Discussed as the primary subject of the chapter, with focus on heterogeneous crowds and their racial variations.

### [Crowds Termed Criminal Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/ii-crowds-termed-criminal-crowds)

The primary subject of the chapter, analyzed for their psychological characteristics and criminal behavior.

### [Criminal Juries](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iii-criminal-juries)

General category of crowd; juries are analyzed as a specific example of a heterogeneous, non-anonymous crowd displaying suggestibility and sentiment-driven decisions.

### [IV: Electoral Crowds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/iv-electoral-crowds)

Electoral crowds are described as heterogeneous, lacking reasoning, critical spirit, and being highly suggestible and credulous.

### [Parliamentary Assemblies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/chapters/v-parliamentary-assemblies)

Parliamentary assemblies are analyzed as a type of heterogeneous crowd, exhibiting characteristics such as intellectual simplicity, irritability, suggestibility, and exaggerated sentiments.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters/crowds
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_crowd_se/characters