The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street

Teledrama By

Rod Serling

How does this portrait compare to the opening scene described at the beginning of the play?

• Portrait of Orleans, 1950

What’s the first sign that something

is wrong on Maple Street?

• The electricity and phones don’t work

NARRATOR’S VOICE: Maple Street. Six-forty-

four P.M. on a late September evening. Maple

Street in the last calm and reflective moment . . .

before the monsters came!

Why did the narrator tell us that the monsters

came, eliminating any suspense about their

coming?coming?

• The fact that they came was not the most important thing. Who they were, what they did, and why they came may be more important.

Tommy is persistent but a little intimidated by the crowd as he tells about a ship landing from outer space.

What does intimidated mean?

• Made timid or fearful; bullied

What is Tommy’s source of

information?

• Stories he has read

Tommy is partly frightened and partly defiant as well.

What does defiant mean?

• Showing bold resistance to authority or an opponentan opponent

Tommy’s words carried with them a strange kind of validity that came without logic but had meaning and effect.

What does validity mean?

• State of being supported by facts; truth• State of being supported by facts; truth

SALLY. [In a whisper, sensing the antagonism of the crowd.] Tommy, please son . . . honey, don’t talk that way—

What does antagonism mean?

• Unfriendliness, hostility

CHARLIE: I wonder if Floral Street’s got the same

deal we got. Where is Pete Van Horn anyway?

Didn’t he get back yet? [Suddenly there’s the

sound of a car’s engine starting to turn over.]

Why does the author have a character raise the

question but then interrupts with something else

before there is an answer?before there is an answer?

• The author may want to remind the audience that Pete left and has not yet returned. Peter will more than likely play a critical role later in the play.

SALLY: Can you get it started, Les?GOODMAN: No dice.

What does “no dice” mean?

• It is an idiom that means “it didn’t • It is an idiom that means “it didn’t work.”

When is the first time that the

audience begins to see the

inhabitants of Maple Street begin

acting as a mob?

• After Les Goodman’s car starts • After Les Goodman’s car starts inexplicably.

People become suspicious when Les

Goodman's car starts because

• everyone else's car is dead

STEVE: Wait a minute . . . wait a minute! Let’s not

be a mob!

In this one line Steve demonstrates his leadership

qualities. What in particular shows his leadership?

• He’s not afraid to oppose the group. A leader is a good communicator, and he uses the right word, mob, that his neighbors should react to.

GOODMAN: Now I suppose that’s supposed to

incriminate me! The light goes on and off. That

really does it, doesn’t it?

What does incriminate mean?

• To show the guilt of• To show the guilt of

What would incriminate a child suspected of drawing on the wall with a crayon?

• The crayon in his/her hand

• To be caught red-handed• To be caught red-handed

How has the mood changed from the end of Act I to the opening of Act II?

• The tension is still there, but the open hostility and anger have diminished.hostility and anger have diminished.

– The mood at the close of act 1 is tense and

charged with anger

– Act 2 opens with Mrs. Goodman carrying a

glass of milk and candle; people are talking

in quiet voices

CHARLIE: Why look at this street! Nothin’ but candles.

Why, it’s like goin’ back into the dark ages or somethin’!

What is ironic about Charlie’s statement? (irony is an

expression in which the spoken word is the opposite of

what is in the speaker’s mind)

• Charlie is referring to the darkness as the absence of light; a different meaning the absence of light; a different meaning could be that the people are behaving like primitives from the dark ages

STEVE: Let’s get it all out. Let’s pick out every

idiosyncrasy of every single man, woman and child

on the street.

What do people start looking for in their neighbors?

• Strange habits• Strange habits

STEVE: A shotgun? Good Lord—will anybody think a thought around here? Will you people wise up? What good would a shotgun do against—

[Now CHARLIE pulls the gun from STEVE’S hand.]

CHARLIE: No more talk, Steve. You’re going to talk us into a grave! You’d let whatever’s out there walk right over us, wouldn’t yuh? Well, some of us won’t!

What might the gun symbolize?

• Until now, Steve has been the leader (controlling the group by his words). The gun might symbolize a shift from a group governed by thought and discussion (Steve) to one governed by force (Charlie and the gun).

Why does Pete Van Horn get

killed?

• he isn't recognized in the dark, and people are scared

After Pete Van Horn is killed, why

do suspicions suddenly switch to

Charlie?

• his electricity goes on

DON: What about it, Charlie? How come you’re the only one with lights now?

GOODMAN: That’s what I’d like to know.

Why does Les Goodman feel no compassion for Charlie now that the crowd has turned against him?

• Charlie was encouraging the crowd to suspect Les of being a monster and did not support his own best friend, Steve.

CHARLIE: Look, look I swear to you . . . it isn’t me . . . But I

do know who it is . . . I know who it is that doesn’t belong . . .

It’s . . . it’s . . . The kid. It’s Tommy. He’s the one.

Does Charlie really believe what he is saying? How do you

know?

• Charlie doesn’t really believe it. In his • Charlie doesn’t really believe it. In his fear he is grasping at straws to save himself. He stammers and his speech is halting as he searches desperately for an answer that will shift the crowd’s attention from him.

Two figures silhouetted against the bright lights appear. We

get only a vague feeling of form, but nothing more explicitthan that.

What does explicit mean?

• Clearly expressed

How do aliens use their understanding of human nature to

accomplish their goal?

• The aliens know that the best way to destroy a human community is to set it against itself. The aliens plant the seed for disagreement, and people’s fears grow for disagreement, and people’s fears grow into hostility toward one another. The aliens don’t have to use bombs or any type of weapon—the humans will destroy themselves.

What is this play’s theme (universal message)?

• Humans are too quick to judge and suspect each other of wrongdoing

– There are many opportunities for the

characters to make the right decision, control characters to make the right decision, control

their fears, and work together for a solution.

Instead, they allow themselves to become a

mob and resort to violence.