'And The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street'

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“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. In the book the Lord of the Flies by William Golding and the episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” by Rod Serling both revolve around a society who creates this monster in them that is made out of fear, paranoia, and savagery. They both show how just a small group of people can go mad and destroy everything out of fear. In the Lord of the Flies fear takes over the boys and cause things to go downfall. The boys in Lord of the Flies might be afraid of the beast, but that fear turns out to be more dangerous than any beast could possibly be. The Lord of the Flies even says to Simon that “Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? …show more content…

In the episode a figure appears in the distance. “A hand fires a rifle. A fist clenches. A hand grabs the hammer from Van Horn’s body, etc.” In reaction to the figure, and still not knowing anything, Charlie gets his shotgun. Without even calling out a warning, Charlie shoots the approaching figure, which turns out to be neighbor Pete Van Horn. This shows how paranoid everyone is that even out of fear they have let things get out of hand. This led to an innocent man’s death. The man didn’t even have a chance to identify himself. In the “Lord of the Flies” savagery gets the best of the boys. The boys have lost their humanity and let things get out of hands and ended up killing an innocent boy who they thought was a beast. “There was no laughter at all now and more grave watching. Ralph pushed both hands through his hair and looked at the little boy in mixed amusement and exasperation.” Lastly, you can see how the savageness of the mob causes them to destroy the whole entire neighborhood. Towards the end of the show the aliens who caused this said “they pick the most dangerous enemy they can find… and it’s themselves.” They say this because they know that the fear in the people creates this monster in them and they wouldn't even know

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