The Old Man in the Cave story
In 1974, a former soldier and his band of scavengers cause discord for a community of atomic war survivors who are being guided by an unseen cave dweller. Directed by: Alan Crosland, Jr. Story by: Henry Slesar, Rod Serling.
11 total · 1 choice · 9 major · 1 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| post-apocalyptic dystopia | choice | The story is set ten years after a nuclear war when all that remains of the United States is a scattering of isolated primitive societies. |
| clash of wills | major | Mr. Goldsmith and Major French quarreled over who among them was really in charge of the town. |
| faith vs. science | major | A community of people who believed in the mysterious powers of a man-in-a-cave were contrasted with a band of more rationally minded soldiers. |
| nuclear holocaust | major | The story follows some townspeople who were struggling to survive in the aftermath of a nuclear war. |
| risk taking vs. playing it safe | major | A central component was whether or not people should trust the predictions of the old man in the cave. |
| superstition in society | major | We saw a community of people who believed in the mysterious powers of a man-in-a-cave. Their beliefs were challenged by a gang of marauding soldiers. |
| surviving in a wasteland | major | We the survivors of a nuclear war struggle to sustain themselves. |
| the dangers of radioactivity | major | Everyone ate the canned food that Mr. Goldsmith kept insisting was contaminated with strontium-90 and in the end they all died, proving Mr. Goldsmith had been right all along. |
| the importance of faith | major | Mr. Goldsmith urged the townspeople to have faith in the old man in the cave, but they didn't and it cost them all their lives. |
| the stupidity of crowds | major | The townspeople disillusioned of the old-man-in-a-cave myth irrationally smashed to smithereens their only hope of salvation: a powerful computer. |