The Obsolete Man
Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Obsolete Man
Cast
- Romney Wordsworth: Burgess Meredith
- The Chancellor: Fritz Weaver
Synopsis
In a future totalitarian society, Romney Wordsworth (Meredith) is a man put on trial for the crime of being obsolete. Secretly, he is a librarian (punishable by death), and religious (also punishable by death). He is prosecuted by the chancellor (Weaver), who expresses in detail that he is not needed by society.Eventually, Wordsworth is sentenced to die, and is given the choice of method of dying. He secretly chooses his punishment, known only to him and his assassin, to be administered at midnight.
Wordsworth is put into a room that is monitored and broadcast live to the nation, so they can see the condemned in his final hours. He summons the chancellor, who shows up at 11:15 PM. After some discussion, Wordsworth reveals that he has locked the door, and that his chosen method of death is by bomb, hidden in the room and set to go off at midnight. He intends to show the nation how a spiritual man faces death, and proceeds to read verses from his Bible. He also points out that, as the events are being broadcast live, the State will not interfere to rescue a high-ranking chancellor. Wordsworth’s calm acceptance of death may be directly compared with the chancellor’s increasing panic.
As the last few moments before the bomb explodes elapse, the chancellor begs the old man to let him go: “In the name of God, let me out!” Wordsworth obliges, but not without repeating the mention of God—which the State had proven to not exist.
The chancellor bursts out of the room and down the stairs just as the bomb explodes, killing Wordsworth.
The final scene shows the chancellor, now stripped of his rank, being put on trial for none other than the crime of being obsolete.
External link
Twilight Zone links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.