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Devil in the Dark Worksheet

This is one of my favorite episodes. From a social justice point of view "The Devil in the Dark" causes us to look at several issues. One, does something have to conform to the way we believe it should look or act to have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Two, do we have the right to destroy a planet's ecosystem to promote our own lives? Three, if we accept the fact that a human has the right to kill to protect it's young, would we therefor accept the fact that an alien or animal has the right to do the same? Four, can two species co-exist in peaceful harmony and work together to the benefit of all in their society? If you could answer only these questions after seeing the episode, you'd have a good idea of what Roddenberry believed were the essentials of social justice in the 23rd and 24th centuries.

Once again, you may copy and paste to a word processing program to do the worksheets.



Name______________________________

Episode Title_________________________

1. Why was the Enterprise and her crew called to the mining colony of Janus VI? What was being interrupted that was so important to the humans living and working there?










2. The alien life form is referred to as a "devil" or "monster." Only at the end of the episode do we truly learn what the creature is. What is the creature...give me it's real name and it's role and tell why it was doing what it was doing?











3. What were the miners doing that angered the creature and what agreement did they come to at the end that was beneficial to both miners and the creature(s)? What does this prove?










4. The planet in this episode is called Janus VI. This is a mythological reference to the gates of the city of Troy, the Janus gates. Janus was a god with two heads who could see in two directions. This episode causes us to see issues in several perspectives. Discuss any one of the four questions posed in the beginning of this worksheet and tell how a person watching the show could see the issues in several different ways.













5. One of the truths about Star Trek was that all life was sacred. Although Kirk believes he's going to have to kill the creature after the death of several of the miners and his crew, he's moved to compassion for the creature after a series of events proves that the creature has feelings just like he does. Give several of the incidents that prove this creature is "human" in it's feelings even though it's appearance is deceiving.















6. Another aspect of this episode from the title is the dark. Supposedly all evil or bad things reside in the dark. The dark is one of those childhood fears that plague us. We don't like it when the lights go out. Therefore when the miners are dealing with this mysterious creature in the dark they fear it and want it dead. Discuss one of your childhood fears that stemmed from the dark. How did you deal with it?











7. At the time this episode was filmed, America and most other industrial nations were not using the environment wisely. Many species died out, the land was poisoned, all because we needed the valuable resources and would get them at any cost to planet, animals, and human beings. What is the most important lesson this episode teaches us about the environment and those who inhabit it?














8. Anything that stands in the way of profit must be removed or destroyed. That is pretty much the thought of the commander of the mining colony. Can you think of any species on modern earth that has been at the heart of a controversy because it has caused progress or industry to shut down due to its endangerment? Discuss what you know and remember.