Execution story
An outlaw cowboy about to be hanged for murder in 1880 is brought to 1960 by a time machine built by a professor. Directed by: David Orrick McDearmon. Story by: George Clayton Johnson, Rod Serling.
8 total · 6 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| ironic twist of fate | major | Paul strangled Caswell only to be hanged in Caswell's place. Caswell escaped the noose in the 19th century only to be strangled by another criminal in the 20th. |
| murder | major | Caswell was abortively hanged for having shot a young man dead. Caswell was garroted by Paul. |
| past point of view | major | Caswell was perplexed by all things modern in 20th century New York City: the carriages without horses, the blinking lights, television, and above all the ceaseless noise. |
| time travel | major | Professor Manion reached back 80 years into the past and pulled a hanging man into his own time. |
| what if I found myself in the future | major | Murderous outlaw Joe Caswell was transported from a 19th century noose to a 20th century laboratory. |
| what is justice | major | The judge told Caswell it was just for him to be hanged for murder at the opening of the story. Professor Manion and Caswell debated the meaning of justice. Fate saw that a form of justice was mediated, as Paul strangled the condemned murdered Joe, and then Paul was executed in Joe's place. |
| the desire for justice | minor | A victim's father was watching the hanging with anticipation. |
| capital punishment | not | Caswell was being hanged, but the morality of doing so was never in question. |