Are we going to read anything about a community coming together?? This is a little depressing. I think that the story Monsters (as I'll call it for short) could have a different ending. I think that the message would be even more powerful if at the end we find out that all the power failures aren't caused by aliens but by something else, such as a meteor shower hitting many sources of electricity and wireless connections like a satellite or a power plant.
What is with the two headed new residents? They make the story have a less powerful message for me. The message could be more powerful if the community turned on itself in response to a natural force in space instead of being manipulated against each other by some other intelligent creature. Without the aliens I think that the story would be more realistic and therefore more powerful and relevant to me. As many of you know I'm not a fan of fantasy (with a few exceptions). Incorporating fantasy into the story Monsters makes it less powerful.
Let's shift gears. What could have prevented this Maple Street community from turning on itself so far that it is destroyed? Two possibilities came to mind for me. The first came from page 89. If Don hadn't brought out the shotgun and Charlie hadn't shot and killed Pete Van Horn then there is the possibility that Pete had some information that would have calmed everyone down. Maybe he had found out that it was aliens. What would that news have started? Would the people of Maple Street have calmed down?
There is one more thing that I think could have saved Maple Street. If there had been three or four more Steves. Then there would have been more than one person who would have wanted to stop the destruction of the community. There would have been more pressure to put the shotgun down, not to kill Pete Van Horn, not to be so quick to blame your neighbors. This would have been a major factor in stopping the destruction of Maple Street.
One more question. What if not everyone had been killed in the mob??? Would the story Monsters still have the same message?
Polly,
ReplyDeleteThese are great questions! Especially on an upset stomach! It never occured to me that Pete Van Horn might actually have discovered the aliens... I suspect that if they had allowed him to bring his news, they would have united and not turned into total anarchy--because, much like with Ned Rosen, the aliens would have turned into their tangible enemy. Faced with fear and helplessness, the only thing they could do was act--even if it meant acting in a way that ultimately hurt them.
I agree with you about the two headed business. I've read this story several times and each time I read that last line and wonder what Rod Serling was up to... was it just thrown in for the sake of sci fi fans? A joke? Not sure. Someone in class today said (or wrote?) that the story was full of dry humor. Maybe this is what s/he was referring to.
It is a very depressing story--no argument from me on that. Of course, you should remember that just because Rod Serling wrote it, that doesn't mean he truly believes it. He may harbor a much more positive view of mankind and just have buried it for the sake of writing the story... since it was written as an episode of the Twilight Zone. Gotta keep those viewers on their toes, you know? Also, take into account that he was trying hard to make a statement and he wrote it in the context of the world events at the time. Space Race, Communism, Cold War, Nuclear threat, McCarthyism, etc. All of which we'll talk about in class... :-)
Anyway. I think one of the main ideas that people expressed in class today is that people have good parts and bad parts to them. Serling capitalized on the worst parts and neglected the good parts. Unfortunately, sometimes people do that to themselves, too :-(
Feel better!
Mindy, I enjoyed your novel.
ReplyDeletePolly, I enjoyed your post.
Tree, I enjoyed the pictures you inspired.
Feel better, Polly, I missed you in Moreh Hagai's class...