Significance: Represents the rational aspect of human nature that seeks to understand and solve problems logically rather than emotionally. His character serves as a counterbalance to the rising hysteria.
Role: Voice of Reason
Characteristics: Rational, calm, and logical. Steve tries to maintain order and reason as the neighborhood descends into chaos. He often attempts to quell the hysteria and encourages his neighbors to think critically rather than succumbing to paranoia.
Zdrs: 2
Steve Brand
Role: Catalyst of Chaos
Charlie Farnsworth
Look! It’s the monster! It’s the monster!
His impulsive fear leads him to shoot Peter Van Horn without confirming who he is, showing his dangerous irrationality.
Zdrs: 3
Done by: Salwa Maher 11D May 15, 2024
Significance: Highlights the human tendency to ostracize and blame those who are different. Les’s character shows how fear of the unknown can lead to irrational scapegoating and how quickly a community can turn against one of its own.
Les Goodman
Role: Scapegoat
You’re all standing out here, all set to crucify somebody! You’re all set to find a scapegoat! You’re all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor! Well, now, look, friends, the only thing that’s gonna happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive!
Zdrs: 0
Significance: Embodies the ease with which fear can turn to aggression. His character demonstrates how quickly rational thought can be abandoned in favor of self-preservation and how one person’s fear can spark a larger conflict.
Characteristics: Quick to panic, suspicious, and impulsive. Charlie is one of the first to give in to fear and start pointing fingers. His actions exacerbate the tension and suspicion among the neighbors.
Characteristics: Misunderstood, different, and isolated. Les becomes an immediate target of suspicion because his car starts on its own, and he is perceived as different by his neighbors.