Where is Everybody? Part II

Spoiler Alert: You might want to read Ray Bradbury’s “The Silent Towns” and watch the Twilight Zone episode “Where is Everybody?” before reading this essay. You can find “The Silent Towns” in Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and “Where is Everybody?” at http://www.veoh.com/videos/v6258110pjyYcDTa?rank=0&order=oldest

At the end of part I, I said I’d compare the Twilight Zone episode “Where is Everybody?” with Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Silent Towns.”

Twilight Zone creator and host Rod Serling admired Bradbury, and, at first, Bradbury supported Serling’s Twilight Zone efforts. Many episodes project a Bradburyesque flavor. Plus, Bradbury helped recruit key Twilight Zone contributors including Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Unfortunately, things soured between Serling and Bradbury. Despite Serling’s enthusiasm about getting Bradbury to contribute, Bradbury only got one script shot. Many think this embarrassed Bradbury. Meanwhile, Bradbury believed Serling plagiarized his work. For example, Bradbury insisted that Serling’s “Walking Distance” plagiarized Bradbury’s “The Black Ferris.” There’s no foundation for that charge though. “The Black Ferris” features carnie criminals turning into children by riding a Ferris wheel backwards. “Walking Distance” follows Martin Sloan, a stressed out advertising executive, who time travels and meets his boyhood self. A carousel figures prominently, but it’s not the cause of Sloan’s time travel. However, Serling’s “Where is Everybody?” bears remarkable resemblance to Bradbury’s “The Silent Towns.”

Bradbury’s story occurs on Mars after Earth colonists evacuate. They leave behind cities and mid-20th century American style small towns. (Bradbury originally set “Towns” in 2005, but some newer editions of The Martian Chronicles add decades to the dates.) Walter Gripp, a solitary prospector living in the mountains, missed the evacuation and now wanders the deserted towns. Physical needs and comforts, including food and shelter, pose no problem. Loneliness proves more difficult. Then a phone rings. Gripp can’t answer it in time, and Bradbury didn’t foresee caller ID. Later Gripp hears other phones ringing, but he never reaches them in time. He hopes the caller is a woman. Gripp believes the mystery caller will call every number on Mars. Gripp starts calling too. He finds a strategy and succeeds. The caller is a woman. They are cut off mid-call, but Gripp rushes to her location, only to find she rushed to his location by a different route. All the while, Gripp daydreams, idealizing this wondrous woman. Then they finally meet . . . and she isn’t what he expected.

Serling’s “Where is Everybody?” occurs on earth. An amnesiac named Mike Ferris finds himself on a road leading to a diner. No one’s there, but all the evidence says people were there a short time before. Next he enters an idyllic small town. He wanders around searching for people. Repeatedly, he finds signs that he's missed someone by moments. He finds burning cigarettes, sinks running with the water still hot. Projectors start in a theater, but, rushing to the projection booth, he finds no one. Ferris finally suffers a breakdown, and we learn that he wasn’t where we thought he was.

Bradbury’s story first appeared in Charm's March 1949 issue and later in 1950's The Martian Chronicles. Serling wrote “Where is Everybody?” in 1958. Additionally, Serling admired Bradbury, was familiar with his work, and the stories contain similarities. In both stories, the protagonists find themselves in deserted towns. They take similar actions and have similar experiences. They help themselves to food in diner settings and treat themselves at soda fountains. Jukebox music plays a role. They take money and give it back. (In “Where?” this happens in the original script and the short story, but not in the televised version.) They both go into movie theaters. Signs of recent human activity appear everywhere. (Well, at least in the beginning of “The Silent Towns” they do. These signs appear through out “Where is Everybody?”) The settings include similar small towns with their main streets and store fronts. Both stories feature ringing phones in key scenes.

At first glance, much of “Where is Everybody?” looks like “The Silent Towns” set on Earth. However both stories end differently, and their themes, morals, and conclusions about companionship contrast sharply. There are other differences. Although both stories rationalize the situation, “Where” has a weirder atmosphere. In fact, the short story version ends with a weird twist not present in earlier versions. You could argue that Ferris is alone in the world where most of his story occurs. (Or maybe you could argue he is both alone and not alone simultaneously). There is someone else on Mars. Ferris has amnesia and things aren’t as they seem. Gripp doesn’t have amnesia and things are exactly as they appear. Other people lived in the Martian towns as recently as a week before “The Silent Towns” began and signs of their presence make sense. Signs that he missed someone torment Ferris. He finds no logical explanation for the missing people. This enhances the weird effect of “Where” in contrast to “Towns.” Although both men initially find loneliness unbearable, Gripp chooses years of solitude while Ferris’s isolation causes his breakdown. Why was Ferris less able to cope? Ferris wasn’t subjected to sensory deprivation, but he faced something closer to sensory deprivation than Gripp did. Cooped up as he was, Ferris began suffering delusions (At least he really had them in the script and televised versions. The short story’s ending calls the delusion conclusion into question.) Once suffering from those delusions, Ferris was tormented like the mythological Tantalus in Hades, who thirsted and hungered with food and water always just beyond his reach. This is a more maddening situation than Gripp faced. Gripp finally made the contact he sought, but even he was on edge when he kept missing phone calls or when he only got recorded messages. Also, Gripp was already used to being alone most of the time, living in the mountains and only coming to town every few weeks.

Serling’s story is about the value of human contact. Bradbury’s is about rejecting someone for not being good looking or charming enough. Early on, Gripp is like an infatuated teenager, eager to answer the phone and speak to the girl on the other end. Then, he’s like a henpecked husband. By the end, he’s like someone who screens their calls to avoid a stalkerish ex. Ferris, on the other hand, cracks due to isolation. Loneliness is an obstacle, a burden. It’s torture. There’s a cruel humor to Bradbury’s story while Serling’s conveys warmth and compassion. Earl Holliman’s performance as Ferris enhances this. Compare Gripp’s treatment of Genevieve with Ferris’s gentlemanly comportment toward a manikin. Gripp has a chance at real companionship, but rejects it when it doesn’t match his fantasy. There’s that old put down that ends with “even if you were the last man on Earth.” Well, Gripp really does reject the last woman in the world. Mankind may not survive the war on Earth. Genevieve (interesting how her name evokes Genesis and Eve) may represent a new Eve, hope for humanity’s survival. So, in a way, Gripp rejects all humanity. In Bradbury's story, Gripp learns to treasure solitude. In Serling’s, Ferris treasures companionship.