The Andromeda Strain

“But why should there be buzzards here? They only come when something’s dead?”

Roger Shawn and Lewis Crane are the first to notice the worrying effects of the satellite’s return to Earth. Their response is a sign of what is to come: They see the information provided by their instruments and notice the buzzards circling above town, but they struggle to accept the reality of the situation. They cannot comprehend the idea that something disastrous might have occurred, so they hide their incredulity behind nervous jokes and laughter. Their reactions foreshadow the reactions of the scientific world at large.

“You’re imagining things.”

The conversation between Shawn and Crane reveals humans’ unwillingness to accept the evidence in front of them. Both men see the bodies lining the streets, but they try to ignore the reality of the situation. Shawn tells Crane that he is imagining the dead bodies, but the comment is as much for himself as it is for his colleague. Shawn is trying to assure himself that there is no need to worry, that there are no bodies, because the alternative is too terrifying to comprehend. The subtle implication of Shawn’s comment is the desperate desire that the bodies in the street are a product of his own imagination.