The Unchanging Bystander Nature of Humans

Remember when we read the Patterns story about Kitty Genovese and the thirty six people who watched murder and didn't say anything? Well, things haven't changed because the same thing happened to Jayna Murray recently in Lululemon while two Apple Store workers listened against the wall joining the two stores. They heard her cry for help and did nothing. After 331 wounds, Murray was dead. And those two employees heard it and did nothing. The security guard was too busy listening to his iPod to take notice. This act of human nature now has a name. The "bystander effect". I just don't get how those two employees could simply stand there, listening, and not act on a cry for help. Maybe alert the security guard they have or just pick up one of the many iPhones sitting in the Apple Store and call 911. What caused them not to call? One thought it was just drama and the other heard Murray say, "Talk to me. Don't do this. God help me. Please help me." They did nothing! How hard is it to pick up the phone and dial three numbers just for safety even if you don't know the situation?

Jenna Johnson writes her article "The bystander effect: Why those who heard the Lululemon murder didn't help," for the Washington Post with an appeal to pathos and ethos. One effective technique she uses is her own account of being attacked by three boys and not receiving any help. She was a lucky surviver, but also a victim of the bystander effect. Her story, although differing in outcomes, was similar to Jayna Murray's in the lack of human response. This technique really pulled the audience in and also established Johnson with some creditability on the subject. Another technique that Johnson uses is that she makes the common connections of Jayna Murray's case to those of Kitty Genovese and Yeardley Love, which allows her audience to make references of common knowledge. The ethos behind the article is just the logic. One ethos line is when Johnson says, "The sounds coming from Lululemon that night in March alarmed an Apple employee enough for her to listen at the wall, to sense that something might be wrong, to reach out to another employee for his opinion," (Johnson 2). That line really appeals to the audience in a logical sense. Jenna Johnson writes a powerful article on the bystander effect and the murder of Jayna Murray.

Source: Johnson, Jenna . "The bystander effect: Why those who heard the Lululemon murder didn't help." The Washington Post 4 Nov. 2011, sec. Opinion: n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.