Episode no. Season 2
Episode 29 Written by Rod Serling Production code 173-3661 | Directed by Elliot Silverstein Featured music Stock Original air date June 2, 1961 | |
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"The Obsolete Man" is episode 65 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on June 2, 1961 on CBS. The story was later adapted for The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas starring Jason Alexander.
Contents
Plot
In a future totalitarian state, Romney Wordsworth is put on trial for being obsolete. His professed occupation as a librarian, which proves his guilt in this matter as the State has eliminated books. He believes in God, a crime punishable by death, since the State's official religion is atheism. The Chancellor finds Wordsworth guilty and sentences him to death, allowing him to choose his method of execution. He requests that he be granted a personal assassin, who will be the only one who knows the method of death, and that his execution be televised nationwide. Though televised executions are commonplace, the secretive execution is highly unorthodox; the Chancellor nonetheless grants both requests.
A television camera is installed in Wordsworth's study to broadcast his final hour live to the nation. He summons the Chancellor, who arrives at 11:16 p.m., wanting to prove the State's strength and Wordsworth's insignificance. Their discussion reveals that Wordsworth was a carpenter prior to retiring, explaining why he was not tried for obsolescence earlier in life. As they begin to be televised live, the Chancellor gloats how the State broadcast mass executions, leading Wordsworth to say "History teaches you nothing". The Chancellor contradicts this, saying that Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were predecessors for the State who lost their power from not using it more greatly, specifically on "undesirables". When the Chancellor mocks Wordsworth and attempts to leave, Wordsworth reveals that his chosen method of execution is a bomb set to go off in the room at midnight. He says that the reaction to imminent execution that will interest the public is not his own but the Chancellor's, as the door is locked. He points out that, as the events are being broadcast live, the State would risk losing its status in the eyes of the people by rescuing the Chancellor. Wordsworth proceeds to read from his illegal, long-hidden copy of the Bible (in particular, Psalm 23 and Psalm 59). Wordsworth's calm acceptance of death stands in sharp contrast with the Chancellor's increasing panic.
Moments before the bomb explodes, the Chancellor begs to be let go "in the name of God". Wordsworth releases the Chancellor immediately "in the name of God". The bomb explodes and kills Wordsworth, who dies with satisfaction while holding his Bible.
Due to his shameful display in Wordsworth's room, the Chancellor is replaced by his own subaltern. The new Chancellor denounces his predecessor as a hypocrite and a traitor to the ideals of the state - and, therefore, obsolete. The former Chancellor screams that he is not obsolete, but is enveloped and overwhelmed by loyal members of the state...who rip him to pieces.
Closing Narration
(text in bold scripted but not used)