To Serve Man story
Representatives of a 9 ft. tall alien race come to Earth and offer mankind cures for all earthly ills. Directed by: Richard L. Bare. Story by: Damon Knight, Rod Serling.
15 total · 1 choice · 7 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| attack from outer space by a powerful conquering enemy | choice | We saw a peculiarly insidious scheme for inspiring mankind's trust by giving us technology, only to gradually harvest us as food (Chambers' final words were that we all had his fate to look forwards to). |
| aliens eating people | major | The Kanamits made a bid to transform Earth into a giant ranch with humans playing the role of cattle. |
| extraterrestrial being | major | The seemingly benevolent Kanamits came to Earth from another galaxy offering to solutions to all the world's problems. |
| first contact | major | The seemingly benevolent Kanamits establish formal relations with the people of Earth through the United Nations. |
| ironic twist of fate | major | Humankind was delighted to learn that the aliens wished nothing more than "to serve man", but through an ironic twist of fate it transpires that they wanted to serve man as a meal. |
| peace on Earth | major | The governments of the Earth put an end to war with the aid of advanced Kanamit technology. |
| problem of language and meaning | major | The cookbook presented a peculiar problem of language and meaning. |
| trust in a potential foe | major | Should the leaders of Earth's nation states trust the seemingly benevolent Kanamits when they offered humanitarian aid that would turn the world in a paradise? |
| flying saucer | minor | People we shown boarding a flying saucer en route to the Kanamit home world. |
| intergalactic space travel | minor | The Kanamits were sending flying saucers full of people to their home world in another galaxy. |