Rod Sterling's horror teleplay, Monsters are Due on Maple Street perfectly illustrates how fear can turn people into monsters. At the start of the play, a screeching sound and a flash of light descend from the sky. Maple Street is filled with terror and fear as a result of this. The group becomes irrational when they adjust their views to fit others' views (mob mentality), finding scapegoats everywhere they look.
Along with fear engulfing them, a theory is given, by only a child, that there are aliens. They believe they are disguised as humans on Maple Street. They rely on him for explanations. They blatantly accuse their neighbors, who were once their friends. The terror of this foreign invasion causes them to resort to extreme measures such as believing their friends to be aliens, determined to overtake planet Earth. The peaceful suburban community transforms into a bloodthirsty mob of monsters, all because they are scared of a mere possibility. Fear drives them into a spiral. Neighbors blamed other neighbors for the outage because they believed one person was an alien. Even though they had no proof or
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Maple residents were so afraid of what was happening that they believed anything anyone said. Steve has a radio in his garage which he has worked on alone. Initially, they thought he was working on an electronic device related to aliens. They soon all become obsessed with finding a scapegoat, and as a result, they will eat each other alive. Out of fear and panic, they all ruin themselves and each other. They destroy themselves by panicking and seeking a scapegoat. Everyone is torn apart and no one knows or believes the truth. “There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men” is said at the end of the episode. I believe this quote sums up Maple Street residents