Walking Distance – Symbolic and Psychological Journey

Twilight Zone Episode: Walking Distance – Symbolic and Psychological Journey Name Institution Due Date Twilight Zone Episode: Walking Distance – Symbolic and Psychological Journey When characters in Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone enter that nebulous region “between light and shadow, between science and superstition”, they are often embarking on a psychological journey of self-discovery.” Explain how Martin Sloan’s journey to Homewood is both symbolic and psychological. In today’s adrenaline-powered world, it is possible to fall back to the familiar things of the past. It is possible to long for one’s childhood world and neglect one’s adulthood world. People can reminisce and try their best to stay in their minds long enough to ignore or run away from their future. There are people who associate or relate to their childhoods at a highly nostalgic level. These people will often get defensive of their past and drive conversations towards their childhood days. To some people, the past means a lot because it represents a moment in their life when they were truly happy and could genuinely laugh without worrying about the next day. Walking Distance does its best to capture the life of a man whose present circumstance is pushing him to trace his roots. Martin Sloan’s journey home is both psychological and symbolic as it mostly happens in his mind with the different perspectives appear to be in competition with each other. It is also symbolic because of the use of characters like his father, mother, Mr. Wilson, and an object like the park. However, through it all, Rod Serling does manage to get his message out: one can never go home again. One can fantasize, reminisce, and keep the memories of the past alive, but they can never go home again. The use of symbolism helps to communicate the notion that people ought to leave their childish ways behind. In one particular scene of the episode Walking Distance, Martin is seen having a conversation with his father. At one point, Martin tells his father that “one day I knew I had to come back here.” However, his father makes it clear to him that it is not his moment and that he needs to go back to the future and leave the younger Martin to live his life. His father tells him that “you have to leave here. There is no room. There is no place.” The next bit is quite sad but factual as his father tells him that there is one chance. The symbolic image of his father is adamant that Martin had to find a way to be comfor...