End of the Journey

Noyes appears to have had more control over his own irrational behavior than Jones and Howell. There is no evidence in the sources used here of any kind of abuse or violence within Oneida. Whenever Noyes is challenged, and there are several times when this occurs, he retreats. Either he backs down from his ideology or he literally retreats to another location. In the end he retreats to an isolated spot and doesn't come back. Perhaps the fact that both Jones and Howell move their communal groups to different locations over a period of years indicates they were running too. The question remains, were they running to or away from something?

Maybe an inner voice in all these men whispered that there was something wrong. They could hear the voice that pointed out their flaws but not the one that told them they were on the wrong path. Their own inflated egos would not let them admit to any failure or misdirection within themselves. Others failed to hear the voice or if they heard it, they failed to heed it. Reiterman says, " . . . despite the many signals to the contrary, those closest to Jones had failed to realize he had no intention of permitting his movement to survive him." There is an indication of the same thing in the comments made by Howell and already mentioned, that if he were killed he would come back. Regarding the People's Temple, "We'll all die tonight. . .but father will raise us up tomorrow." Did Jones and Howell intend their movements to end in death? Probably not, although there is reason to speculate. Noyes probably never considered leaving his group. However, they each started a journey with a destination in mind. Unfortunately, it never occurred to any of them that it wasn't a real place.