The Twilight Zone - Mr Denton on Doomsday

I thought a lot after watching the Twilight Zone episode "Mr. Denton on Doomsday". I think that this story is similar to the state of and relations between Russia and USA in the period: end of 1800s - middle of 1900s. I really think so.

At the beginning Al Denton is an alcoholic wreck and the laughing stock of the community (but he was once known as the quickest draw in town). So there was a lot of people accustomed to drinking in Russia, and in general state of the country was bad. I'm not good in history, but I think it was so in the early nineteenth century.

At that time USA was young and powerful country (Pete Grant).

The mysterious Henry J. Fate observes the humiliation and Al Denton finds a revolver on the street.

I think this also was like a miracle that the Soviet Union (Russia) became so powerful after a lot of destruction.

Then the mysterious Henry J. Fate gave both of them (Al Denton and Pete Grant) a potion guaranteed to make the drinker the fastest gun in the West for exactly ten seconds. For me the potion associates with nuclear weapon (both the USA and the Soviet Union had nuclear weapon in the middle of 1900s).

And there is also Russian [old] music when Al Denton was shown at the beginning of the film.

For me it's very clear that the opponents in the film represent the USA and the Soviet Union.

But I'm wondering whom the mysterious Henry J. Fate represent???

analysis the-twilight-zone

Best Answer

In your analogy, Fate intervened giving both Russia and the US the nuclear weapon at the same time. In the show, the men shot and injured each other, resulting in both being disabled from shooting again. I do not see your analogy extending to this ending. If the two had each seen that the other had the bottle and decided not to shoot, maybe the analogy would hold.

Whether an analogy for US/Russian relations or not, I think it is likely that Fate represents fate. Fate intervenes and changes lives. Perhaps it was fate that resulted in the US and Russia gaining access to nuclear weapons at the same time. They were both working on it at the same time, though some would argue that spies (like the Rosenbergs) sped up Russian development of the atomic bomb.