Part A:

The theme of The Day the Earth Stood Still is that violence among mankind will end opportunities
and destroy humanity. The Day the Earth Stood Still takes place in 1950s Washington DC, where the Cold
War is just beginning, the world is still staggering from the horrors of WWII, and tensions between countries
have never been higher. The Cold War and WWII provide perfect examples of violence and tensions among
mankind, so the film is set among these events. The films exposition consists of excerpts of radio broadcasts
concerning an Unknown Flying Object which is circling the globe at 4000 mph. The UFO eventually halts
and lands in Washington, DC. The US military immediately rushes out and creates a perimeter around the
alien spacecraft with numerous heavy weapons. After a few tense minutes, the UFO opens, and an alien,
named Klaatu, steps out and declares he is peaceful. With weapons trained on him, Klaatu reaches into his
jacket and pulls out a suspicious metal object. A nervous soldier shoots Klaatu, thinking the metal object was
a weapon. A large robot, called Gort, steps out of the spaceship and disintegrates all of the militarys
weapons before Klaatu calls him off. Klaatu explains that the metal object he was holding was a gift, one that
would allow Earth to communicate with other planets. The theme is demonstrated through this event, as
violence has led to the destruction of an opportunity for man: interplanetary communication. Klaatu is
rushed to a hospital, where a White House aide meets with him. Klaatu explains that he is on a mission to
deliver a message to all the nations of Earth, and all the nations must receive it at the same time. The White
House aide explains that Klaatus request is impossible due to geopolitical tensions at the time. Klaatu
decides to wait until there is a way to address all nations at once, and asks to be allowed to explore DC.
Klaatus exploration request is denied. Later that evening, Klaatu escapes the hospital. After the escape, the
exposition ends, and the rising action begins. A majority of the film is rising action, which encompasses
Klaatu learning more about Earth. He uses his naturally human features to disguise himself as Mr. Carpenter,
and takes up board at a nearby boarding house. At the boarding house, he befriends Helen, and her son
Bobby. Before he goes to sleep, he listens to the radio with the other residents of the boarding house. The
radio is calling for the immediate finding and killing of Klaatu, whom the radio describes as undeniably a
monster. This scene is meant to emphasize human aggression. Klaatu, an outsider, about whom nobody
knows anything, is automatically assumed to be a threat. The next day, as Helen goes out with her boyfriend,
Bobby shows Klaatu, disguised as Mr. Carpenter, around DC. They visit all the major monuments before
Klaatu asks Bobby who the smartest man in the world is, Bobby tells Klaatu it is Professor Barnhardt. Klaatu

and Bobby set out to see Barnhardt, but Barnhardt is not at his home, so Klaatu leaves a calling card. Bobby
and Klaatu return to the boarding house. Barnhardt asks Klaatu to return to Barnhardts house. At
Barnhardts, Klaatu drops the guise of Mr. Carpenter, and informs Barnhardt that the message Klaatu was
sent to deliver should be given to a collection of scientists. Barnhardt agrees, but brings up the point that
there should be an incentive to come to the meeting, a demonstration of what could happen if the meeting is
not held. Klaatu agrees, and offers to provide a demonstration. The next night, Klaatu leaves the boarding
house to go back to his spaceship. He is tailed by Bobby, who witnesses Klaatu activate Gort and climb
aboard the spaceship. Bobby returns home to tell Helen and her girlfriend that Mr. Carpenter is actually
Klaatu. The next day, Klaatu visits Helen, and they board an elevator. While on the elevator, Klaatus
demonstration takes place. All electricity stops, unless it would affect human life. While stuck on the
elevator, Klaatu makes the entirety of his plans and message clear to Helen. Helen, realizing the importance
of Klaatu addressing the scientists, tries to prevent her boyfriend from reporting Klaatu to the military. The
military, after the demonstration of Klaatus power, is now willing to kill Klaatu. This is another example of
humanitys unneeded aggression that the film makes. The scene where military leaders discuss the power
outage makes it very clear that the generals do not understand why the electricity of hospitals and planes in
flight have been left alone. The generals are too focused on the possibility that the lack of electricity is an act
of aggression that they do not realize Klaatu meant no harm by the stopping of electricity. After Klaatu is
reported by Helens boyfriend, the climax begins. Helen rushes to get Klaatu to his spaceship to meet with
Barnhardts scientists. On the way, Klaatu tells Helen how to disable Gort, and then is shot. This triggers
Gorts aggression, and Gort begins to rampage. This is an example of violence creating huge consequences,
as Klaatu tells Helen that Gort could destroy the world. Helen disables Gort, and Gort brings Klaatu back to
life. Thus ends the climax. The falling action and resolution are both very short, and the resolution leaves
much to the audiences imagination. Klaatu steps out of his spaceship, having been resurrected, and explains
his message to the gathered throng of scientists. He explains that the rest of the universe is at peace due to the
creation of an undefeatable race of robot police, the Gorts, and that if humanity continues to escalate
conflicts, and then gains space travel, that earth will be annihilated. Having delivered his message, he leaves
with Gort in his spaceship. There is no clear statement of what mankind does with the knowledge that Klaatu
gives it. This is because the film is a reaction to WWII and the Cold War, telling humanity that the violence

and tensions will be mankinds undoing. The film is calling mankind to listen to Klaatus message, and so the
resolution is left up to the audience.
Part B:
The Day the Earth Stood Still takes place in the early 1950s, shortly after the end of
WWII. Tensions between the USSR and the USA are growing, as the Cold War kicks into gear. The
films setting is not historically accurate, in the respect that an alien named Klaatu and a robot named
Gort did not land in Washington, DC in the 1950s, but it is historically accurate when Klaatus motives
are examined. Klaatu comes to Earth to stop the aggressive actions of humanity, because if and when
Earth gains space travel, if humans offer a threat of aggression to the rest of the galaxy Earth will be
destroyed. Klaatu specifically mentions rocket powered nuclear weapons as a major threat to the wellbeing of the galaxy, and therefore to Earth. Klaatu voices many major concerns of the time, where an
anti-nuclear weapons movement was beginning to pick up steam in the early 1950s. According to
Catherine Falzone, After the United States detonated two nuclear bombs over Japan in 1945, two strands
of antinuclear activists emergedin 1957Albert Schweitzer gave a speech condemning atomic bombs
(Falzone). The movie was a reaction to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Klaatus motives
represent the anti-atomic movement of the American people. When Klaatu requests to speak with the
UN, he is told that not all nations would be willing to have a meeting, and is read the Russian response to
the meeting request. To Klaatus disbelief, Russia declines the meeting unless it is held on Russian soil.
This presents some historiography, as the US would have most likely denied the request had the USSR
presented it, but mostly highlights US anti-Russian sentiments and US-Russia tensions at the time. After
WWII ended, through the next five years relations between the United States and the Soviet Union went
from alliance to Cold War (History.com Staff). The public had concerns about communism as well,
which explains the fact that only the USSRs partisanship was demonstrated in the film (History.com
Staff). The fact that specifically Russia denied the US UN meeting request is an example of both
historiography and the fact that tensions between the USSR and the US were high at the time. The film

has ahistorical significance because it portrays the anti-war and anti-atomic sentiment of the 1950s as well
as showing the American bias against Russia and communism in its historiography.

Part C | Metaphors:
The Day the Earth Stood Still uses metaphor to promote its anti-conflict and anti-atomic views.
In the film, Klaatu plays the part of a third party observer to the conflicts of Earth. Through Klaatu, the
film conveys how the conflict and partisanship of the world will bring about Earths downfall. The
metaphors present allow the message to be conveyed in more than just a superficial way. The existence
of Gort, Klaatus killer robot, is a metaphor for Earths self-destruction. Gort has a specific set of rules to
how it operates, it will annihilate the aggressor if any act of aggression takes place. Due to this rule, Gort
goes into a rampage twice in the film before being called off with its deactivation phrase, Klaatu barada
nikto. Gorts intended purpose is to represent how humanity will come to an end. The world comes close
to destruction twice, because of the violence occurring around Gort. The only reason it is stopped, is
because Klaatu intervenes. Before Klaatu leaves Earth, he informs humanity that there is a race of Gorts
that moniter Earth and the rest of the galaxy, but because Klaatu is leaving, he can no longer intervene.
Therefore, if Earth continues on its path of violence, the Gorts will activate, destroying mankind. This
would make humanitys end the fault of its violence. Klaatu is a third party observer in the film, a judge
that is impartial. The space suit Klaatu arrives and departs in represent this impartialness. When Klaatu
first arrives on Earth, no one know what to expect. He is feared, but not hated at first. The US
government is curious. He describes his mission almost emotionlessly, still in his space suit, but when he
removes it, he becomes emotionless, and acts on the impulse to explore Earth to learn about it. During his
exploration, he evades government custody, and the initial fear of him turns to hatred. He begins to form
relationships with those he meets while exploring Earth, which removes his claim to impartialness. If he
cares for the people of a planet he is sent to judge, his judgement will be biased. While he explores Earth,

he does so in a suit. Once Klaatu dons his spacesuit again, he returns to an almost emotionless figure.
Before he leaves, he ignores Helen, with whom he had developed a friendship. He threatens the world
with destruction while wearing the spacesuit, showing again how he is a third party. Klaatu wears the suit
when he is making his judgements, and as such, it represents his ability to make such judgements. This is
because when Klaatu removes the suit he is no longer the impartial judge. This is a subtle way to indicate
how the audience should relate to Klaatu. When Klaatu is wearing the suit, the audience should see
Klaatu as a figure whose advice should be heeded. When Klaatu is not wearing a suit the audience is able
to relate with Klaatu. Because Klaatu takes the form of both an impartial judge and a relatable character,
his message is able to be seen as coming from a peer and a judge. By making Klaatu affect the audience
in two different ways, the film makes Klaatus anti-conflict and anti-atomic views more powerful to the
audience.

Works Cited
Falzone, Catherine. "Antinuclear Movement, 1950s-1960s." Nuclear New York. N.p., n.d. Web.
6 Mar. 2016. <https://sites.google.com/a/nyu.edu/nuclearnyc/home>.
History.com Staff. "Red Scare." History.com. A+E Networks, 2010. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.history.com/>.