Rod Serling's "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" digs into the complex workings of human nature, exposing the long-term impacts of prejudice. As tensions rise and paranoia spreads throughout Maple Street, its residents get entangled in a web of suspicion and terror. Serling's story is a devastating warning of the dangers of prejudice, resonating strongly in a society torn with division and mistrust. Firstly, traces of prejudice appear slowly over time on Maple Street when an electrical failure plunges the neighbourhood into darkness. Fueled by fear of the unknown, residents begin to examine one another with rising suspicion, laying the basis for the chaos that follows. Charlie's distrust of Steve's actions highlights this, as he doubts Steve's …show more content…
Charlie's questioning of Steve about his activities in the basement highlights his descent into paranoia, as he accuses Steve of secret activity and demands answers regarding a radio set that no one has seen. What kind of radio set are you working on? I never saw it before. Neither has anyone else. Who do you talk to on that radio set? And who talks to you?" Act II, 86. The lack of regard for reason and empathy enables prejudice to drive the community's descent into chaos and violence. Another key point is that Serling's portrayal of the awful events on Maple Street should act as a wake-up call to the uncontrolled spread of prejudice. He emphasises humanity's tendency to dismiss the "other" and blame those who are seen as different by looking through the eyes of science fiction. Through exposing the harmful effects of prejudice, Serling encourages his audience to face their own prejudices and work towards unity and compassion in the face of hardship. A clear reminder of the madness guiding his neighbours’ actions is provided by Steve's startled shout, "That’s exactly what it is—some kind of
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.
Monster is the story about a 16 year old black boy named Steve Harmon from Harlem. Steve is on trial for a being a possible accomplice to a murder. The book begins with him in jail waiting for his trial to start. The story is written in screenplay format along with Steve’s journal writing which he does even in the courtroom. Steve enjoys filmmaking and screenplay writing. Steve writes this way to keep his sanity while being in prison during the trial. The majority of the story takes place in the courtroom. Steve is there with another defendant, James King, who has his own attorney. The events of the robbery unfold through the accounts of witnesses, attorneys and the participants. The book is about Steve’s trial and whether he will be found guilty of felony murder. In the end, Steve is found innocent but the reader is left to wonder if Steve is guilty or not. It is a story of a young man who wants to act tough and ends up in trouble for this.
You are on trial and your life depends on it. You and your lawyer have argued and proved that you are innocent, but the verdict is still unknown. You are told a verdict is in and your heart is racing. The judge then says you are... In the story Monster by Walter Dean Myers, is a young adult named Steve Harmon—the protagonist—is being accused of felony murder. The story is written both in first person and as a screenplay. Myers uses unique characters and settings to make the reader feel like they are in the same situation as Harmon. The majority of the story takes place in the courtroom where Harmon and his lawyer are fighting for his life. The novel also takes place in a jail and can really show the horrors of what happens there and what is
Language is also pivotal in determining Richard’s social acceptance. For instance, Mr. Olin, a white man tries to probe Richard into fighting another black boy. Richard was disturbed. He uses contrast to show his disturbance, “the eye glasses…were forgotten. My eyes were on Mr. Olin’s face.” A certain dramatic irony exists exists when Richard asks, “Who was my friend, the white man or the black boy?” The reader knows it is the black boy. Wright uses detail such as Mr. Olin’s “low, confidential,” voice to create an apocryphally amiable tone. If Richard complies with Mr. Olin’s deceiving language, he would gain the social acceptance of the white men. If not, he would be ostracized as a pariah. Wright uses a metaphor, “my delicately balanced world had tipped” to show his confusion.
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, a teleplay written by Rod Serling, starts in the late afternoon on Maple Street USA. Something bright flies overhead and the power goes out and the people who live there get advice from a 12 year old and get scared there are aliens out there. Tommy, the 12 year old, told them about the movies and comics that he has read. The narrator is an observer that is describing what happens while everyone goes mad trying to find a scapegoat. Steve is the only person who tries to reason with everyone while they are getting suspicious and trying to blame a scapegoat. This teleplay shows some of the human flaws that the people on maple street will encounter during their little power outage.
Herd behavior is when individuals in a group make a choice and everyone else unconsciously follows them. This usually takes place when under pressure or while in danger. Either good or bad decisions can come from this. In the teleplay “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” written by Rod Serling, the article “Why Do People Follow the Crowd” written by ABC News, and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the three sources all discuss how mob mentality and herd behavior can negatively affect people’s morals and thinking process. Mob mentality and herd behavior will inevitably lead to a loss of integrity and common sense, since members will follow the group and not their on free will, which leads to a negative
Charlie knows Jasper’s reputation but still manages to find a friend through the rumours. Racism and segregation has set in societal rules that Charlie overlooks through Silvey’s writing to send a message to us that everyone has a different side to them and that wrong assumptions and ignorance can influence racism.
?The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street? is a story about the paranoia of regular people. When the power and phone lines stop working on Maple Street, the residents become hostile. One boy puts an idea into their heads: that aliens impersonating humans have done it. This single thought catalysts and soon all of the neighbors are ready to hurt each other for answers. ?The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street? is a good play to see for all ages.
Les Goodman quickly jumps to conclusions about Peter’s death. With no evidence he suggested that Charlie killed Pete Van Horn because he wanted to hide something. He suggested that Charlie was the monster. It shows that prejudice is a major flaw in humans, and could change any outcome of a situation. Similarly, an example is when Steve says,“We’re all on a monster kick, Les. Seems that the general impression holds that maybe one family isn’t what we think they are. Monsters from outer space or something. Different from us. Fifth columnists from the vast beyond. You know anybody that might fit that description around here on Maple Street? (“Monsters” 66).” Similarly, this demonstrates prejudice can lead people to believe obscene things. We hear Steve say that someone on Maple Street was a monster from outer space. He gets this information from a comic book that a child told him about. Prejudice led the people of Maple Street to believe that there was an alien among them. They had no evidence of this. Furthermore, Charlie says,“That don’t prove a thing. Any guy who’d spend his time lookin’ up at the sky early in the morning—well, there’s something wrong with that kind of person. There’s something that ain’t legitimate” (“Monsters” 70).”
Monsters and the Moral Imagination, written by Stephen Asma, presents many possible outcomes as to why monsters are the rise. Mr. Asma discusses why monster portrayals could be on the rise in movies, books, and stories throughout his subsection Monsters are on the Rise. Perhaps the rise is due to traumatic events in recent history such as the holocaust or the terroristic attacks of 9/11 in
Through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language, Staples demonstrates his understanding of his presence threatening pedestrians. Discrimination is not uncommon, and, sadly, this distorted world will never be rid of it. However, one should still strive to get to know someone before making assumptions about them, as the old saying goes, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
“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.
Do you ever wonder how monsters are created in our society? The dehumanization of individuals can cause both the perpetrator and the dehumanized to act in monstrous ways. But, why and how are they created in our world? Some monsters are created to “help us cope with what we dread most in life” (Donovan) and in turn bring communities together. Philip Zimbardo, a social psychologist, believes that anonymity and the situation a “good” person is in can cause them to act monstrously. Although the effects of a monster can be devastating, communities come together to combat them through reconciliation as well as the promotion of heroism.
One of the stereotypes portrayed regarded urban dwellers as criminals, alcoholics, and violent. The garage owner openly express his distain on numerous occasions throughout the film for people who live in the slums. He deemed these people as liars who place no real value on human life. The idea that the slums were a “breeding ground for criminals” was also tossed around and largely affected many of the juror’s initial decision to vote the defendant as guilty. Another inference that warranted mentioning was the messenger service owner’s assumption that the adolescent generations are increasingly growing worse (behavioral wise). He not only based this assumption on limited and faulty information, he used his relationship with his son as a means to characterize others in the same age group of his son. These inferences were not only accepted by the individual jurors themselves, they were magnified by the entire jury. The defendant was judged commodiously by where he was from, which in turn are unrepresentative generalizations of the young
He creates this tone to convey his purpose to the reader which is that prejudice is still an ongoing problem in American society, and that it will never be a thing of the past. Staples gives many personal anecdotes that are very somber; the readers are affected by this because they can emphasize and feel the prejudice that the victim, Brent Staples, faces. Although Staples is never delighted with the positions he is in, he never shows his resentment. In one part of the article, Staples said, “It is not altogether clear to me how I reached the ripe old age of twenty-two without being conscious of the lethality nighttime pedestrians attributed to me.” (Staples, 2). Staples attributes that he knows many people in American society automatically assume that he is a threat to “their” society because of