Presented in the midst of all the events are the various states of human psyche in different social settings. Grandier represents a psychologically complicated individual, full of internal contradictions. He is able to make judgments (although not always right) and stand for himself. The human psyche in a larger group setting, however, is dissimilar from its state in individualistic state and works differently. For example, the townsmen of Loudun, who are presumably all goodhearted as individuals, view the destruction of Grandier as a good show; and the nuns undergo a collective hysteria as they start believing their own made-up stories. In order to musically portray the variable human psyche, Penderecki made the voice parts sing in different styles in different social settings; For example, Sister Jeanne sings differently when she is singing to herself than when she is singing to other people. Penderecki portrays these various ways that human psyche works with the intention of alluding to the 20th-century totalitarian systems' manipulation of the human mind. Because the manipulation is what they have experienced, Penderecki's audience of the time must have found themselves engaged and connected to the work written in a novel language of sound.