'And The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street'

“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?

Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?” What they don't know is that they should really be afraid of each other and of themselves.
In another case, in the episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” fear also plays a significant role. In the show Steve exclaims to everybody “You’re standing here all set to crucify – all set to find a scapegoat…. Well now look, friends, the only thing that’s gonna happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive–”. This is Steve’s reaction to the Charlie’s questioning about the radio. It describes the path that the mob is on. They’re frightened and they’ll eventually destroy each other.
In addition, you can also see how paranoia works in the Lord of the Flies. You can see paranoia, especially in the littluns’. They are so scared that there mind is playing tricks on them and they start to believe that they are seeing the beast. "Now he says it was a beastie...A snake-thing… Ever so big. He saw it...In the woods."He says the beastie came in the dark." Pretty soon, they'll be just as afraid and eventually do ugly things out of fear.
Moreover, in “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” paranoia is definitely a significant cause so the destruction of society.

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

it.
The most dangerous thing on this planet is probably fear, especially fear of the unknown. Fear becomes paralyzing and unbeatable, especially when you realize that there's nothing to be afraid of except fear. 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. We are that beast… we are that monster.