Looking Back on Jonestown
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Looking Back on Jonestown
Endrit Murati
PSY 1012/ DEP 2004/ PPE 2001
Dr. East
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Jim Jones, founder of the People’s Temple, would go on to cause the murder-suicide of
over 900 people and was corrupt from the beginning. When Jones was young many things he did
seemed to be kind-hearted. He was not like most kids since he was against the discrimination of
skin color and would invite beggars to eat at his home. Also, he was obsessed with the ideas of
religion and death and even tried to convert people in his town to Christianity. Some of the things
that he did that should’ve sparked questions was his bad behavior like stabbing an animal to
death and having a funeral for it. He would also steal candy which resulted in his poor mother
paying for it. Jones would also greet people in his neighborhood and then follow with profanity.
Jonestown was specifically established in a small remote area in the jungle of Guyana for
a couple of reasons. Guyana was a socialist country which fell right in with the beliefs of the
people that followed the People’s Temple. The people in Guyana also happened to speak English
and that would be less of a hassle for the all-American people of Jonestown. Not only did the
country matter because of its cheap land, but the jungle location was necessary so that it would
be harder to reach Jones. The location made it extremely hard for anybody to escape and the
journey out would encourage followers to stay. Jonestown was also located in a part of the land
that Guyana and Venezuela were having a dispute over and it benefited the Prime Minister of
Guyana to put them there to ward off Venezuelan forces.
In the beginning, Jonestown was starting great; people were singing and dancing, eating
good food, and nobody had to pay for anything. However, the quality of life in Jonestown would
decline as the days passed. The builders would have to work several hours every single day in
the hot South American sun, mind control began to take place, and less food was served.
Naturally, people wanted to leave this place, but leaving was also a problem. People who tried to
exit through the jungle were hunted down by Jones’ security guards and would be forced into
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doing chores or be put in confinement. It was said that Jones would threaten people with things
he knew they were afraid of such as threatening a woman who was devastatingly terrified of
snakes to have a snake slither on her.
The way the people of Jonestown died would be best classified as a mass murder-suicide.
It is known that the primary cause of death for most of the followers was due to a grape-flavored
Kool-Aid infused with cyanide. Jim Jones was obsessed with the idea of religious sacrifice so he
would test his followers on their preparedness to die with him. Some people were willing to do
so, but also a lot of people weren’t going to drink the Kool-Aid. This is where the speculation of
murder comes in. There are rumors that they filled syringes with Kool-Aid and fed it to the
children of Jonestown and other people that didn’t want to drink it were forced. With that piece
of information, it was without a doubt a mass-murder suicide.
Even without any corruption, it is extremely unlikely that Jonestown would not have
worked. It would have been extremely difficult to convince more people to throw away their
lives and go live inside a compound in the middle of the jungle. The only other people Jonestown
would have attracted were people that just wanted an easy life and had nothing to contribute. The
food shortage would have been inevitable with the socialist structure of Jonestown. If Jonestown
did manage to convince more people to join and grew larger, it would have probably caused
problems with the country of Guyana, neighboring countries, and eventually would’ve asked for
its independence. Jonestown was a tragic event that happens to contain crucial lessons for future
generations to learn.