Summary Of The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street

This quote by Rod Serling, the narrator, depicts how adults can act childish by attempting to find a scapegoat in moments of distress. The narrator, in Rod Serling’s The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street describes a similar exploit when the residents incriminate each other. The characters set in Maple Street undergo tremendous paranoia when a major blackout occurs. Initially the townspeople believe it is a normal blackout. Then, Tommy doubts that what is happening is normal and starts to voice his ideas. As the situation unfurls, the townspeople search for reasons to lay blame. Finding scapegoats becomes obsessive on Maple Street. This “monster” characteristic hides inside each of the Maple Street residents. Uncertainty triggers the “monster” to act in

Initially they are being rational, then over time becoming more being childish in their understanding. In the end, the parents release the real monster - complete chaos. The author, Rod Serling, uses some interesting character names. By way of illustration, the author uses Tommy as the child who doubts the accepted blackout story. The name Tommy is derived from Thomas, whom is one of Jesus’ disciples in the New Testament. When Thomas was first told of Jesus’ resurrection, he doubted it and caused a commotion. Yet later, it was later proven that Jesus had indeed risen. Thomas said "My Lord and My God" because of the commotion he caused. The author’s name choice was for foreshadowing and enhancing the story. Another example of the author’s name choice is Charlie. The name is a diminutive of Charles which is initially made famous by Charles the Great. Charles the Great was the King of the Franks and the Italians. At one point, he led most of Europe. Charles the Great campaigned against people to his east, Christianizing them upon penalty of death- and sometimes events led to massacres because of it. This is just like Charlie because they were both power hungry and