Both John Proctor and Abigail Williams, protagonist and antagonist, paramour and mistress, hold internal fears which fire their very actions defining the plot of the Salem Witch Trials. Proctor ultimately gives in and dies for what he believed to be a good cause, and Abigail ultimately abandoning Salem and leaves all the evil she had caused to find a new life. In short, the essence of fear is an all-too-powerful strength that, when your guard is let down, will consume you and your actions, conclusively drawing a negative fate. As the popular Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are on Maple Street” comes to an end, creator Rod Sterling states: “For while fear may keep us vigilant, it's also fear that tears us apart.”