Tag: Obsolete man

Guest Post by Charles Wickelus

The Obsolete Man was an episode of the Twilight Zone that first aired in June 1961.

In the episode, we see an authoritarian government that has absolute rule over its citizenry. A complete suppression of free speech, free thought and a complete devaluation of literature, arts and religion. A dystopian atheistic regime purportedly based on logic and reason, but is based on coercion of thought backed up by the crushing power of the state.

In this world, a librarian is brought before a tribunal that determines the value of its citizens. The librarian, Romney Wordsworth, engages in a heated debate with the Chancellor. The Chancellor determines that since the state has banned books, a librarian is inherently obsolete. The librarian reveals he believes in God, a belief that has been banned by the state.

The arrogant Chancellor, in his smug self-possession, agrees to have Romney appointed a personal assassin who will not divulge Romney’s preferred way to die. Further, the Chancellor agrees to have Romney’s “liquidation” televised for the nation to watch. Romney knew he had gotten under the Chancellor’s skin, so he invites the Chancellor to come to his room an hour before his liquidation.

In his authoritarian bluster, the Chancellor sweeps in and lectures Romney about the supreme importance of the state and how people’s value is determined by authority figures in government, not from the value that people bring to their fellow man. The Chancellor falls for Romney’s plot, as the room is locked, so when the Chancellor tries to leave after asserting the state’s superiority over a lowly librarian, he finds he will die with the low-status librarian.

Continue reading “The Obsolete Man: The Death Of The American Mind”