Literary Analysis Of The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street

MP3 - Literary Analysis Essay:
What Turns A Crowd Into A Mob?
If you were in a situation where you had no idea what was going on, and someone proposed an idea that could help you, and give you some direction, would you believe them? In both stories, The Twilight Zone “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”, and All Summer In A Day, the theme is expressed that a single idea can turn a crowd into a mob. Something as little as one idea can turn people against one another, and get them to do things they might regret. In The Twilight Zone “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street,” this is demonstrated when everyone is in a frenzy, and Charlie ends up shooting Pete Vanhorn. In All Summer In A Day, William’s claims lead to Margot’s condemnation, and her being locked in a closet. A combination of confusion and imagination can lead to something dangerous and chaotic pretty easily.

In the episode The Twilight Zone “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”, a loss of power, and an abundance of imagination leads a kid named Tommy to share the idea that aliens have invaded Maple Street, and they’re hiding among the population.

Everyone being confused, they take this idea very seriously, and start to turn on each other, finding the tiniest of reasons to accuse one another. In the story, Charlie states “Go ahead Steve. What kind of ‘radio set’ you workin’ on?” This is completely based on the claim that Steve has a radio he uses in his basement. The citizens of Maple street are in a mass confusion, and end up ganging up on eachother, even killing one person. The idea proposed by the boy led to people such as Charlie taking charge, and trying to root out the alien. In actuality, their turns out to be no alien in the small community, but the idealism still holds into place, and creates

chaos.
Another example is in All Summer In A Day, in which a boy named William gives everyone the idea that Margot has been lying, and doesn’t really know anything about the Sun. In the story, William claims in response to Margot saying the Sun is like the fire in a stove, “You’re lying! You don’t remember!” When the day comes, he then tells Margot it was just a joke, and the sun isn’t coming. Everyone in the class then proceeds to gang up on Margot, and lock her in the closet. This causes Margot to miss the experience of the Sun, which only comes every seven years on Venus. William is no longer willing to experience disappointment towards the elusive Sun, but the fact that this causes Margot to miss it herself makes his actions completely unwarranted, especially since he went so far as to actually lock her inside a closet. Because of Williams idealism and resentment towards Margot, the class is convinced to turn into a mob, and gang up on Margot.
Furthermore, these two demonstrate perfectly how a single idea can turn a crowd to a mob, and even lead to the condemnation of a particular person or, or a group of people. All Summer In A Day shows how one boy’s resentment for Margot leads to him presenting the idea she’s a liar, and that she should be punished for her actions, which ultimately leads to Margot getting locked in a closet. In The Twilight Zone “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street,” Tommy’s idea that aliens are hiding among them leads to Charlie taking charge, and starting to find the smallest reasons to condemn his neighbors. The whole community starts turning on each other in an attempt to root out the supposed “alien,” and everything turns very chaotic, very quickly. One idea mixed with imagination and confusion can lead to dangerous chaos, and in some cases, regrettable mistakes that can’t be undone.