In watching Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, I realized something was very familiar (beyond the obvious Night of the Living Dead reference.).
For Mac and George:- Both men destroy their monsters by fire: Mac uses a flame thrower. George uses a lantern and then an alcohol-doused, cotton-wrapped axe.
- Both men have problems with authority: Mac and Garry do not get along. I suspect that Garry had a more than a bit of disdain for MacReady because of 'Nam, as Garry seems more like a Korean war vet than 'Nam. George doesn't like the police, who seem more belligerent and eager to blacklist him as a cultist monster. Initially, he tries to reason with them, esp. the chief detective, but no dice.
- Both men wind up sacrificing themselves for the greater good: George tries on numerous occasions to shut down the agricultural machine that brought on the reanimated dead. He tries to convince people there's a problem, and then tries to save Edna and as many innocent people as possible. MacReady knows the only way to save the rest of the world is to give up his own life. He doesn't like it, but he likes the Thing destroying the world far less. After (hopefully) destroying the Thing (it was never confirmed that either Childs or Mac were infected), he allows himself to freeze to death rather than risk contaminating any one else.
- Both men are calm under pressure: George really begins to take action as calmly as possible, trying to keep everyone else together, but ultimately just concentrates on the task at hand. He can't change other people, so he just accepts what he has to do and does it. MacReady is the same way, urged by Fuchs and Doc Copper, he devises his own take on the blood serum test. Mac doesn't always succeed in keeping everyone else together. He makes mistakes but ultimately accepts what he has to do and does it.
- Both Men pride themselves on their individualism: Not just in appearance, but the way they act and deal with society.
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