The Short Story
The original cash prize offered to Arthur and Norma Lewis by Mr. Steward.
What is $50,000?
The cash prize was increased to this amount for the 1986 television audience.
What is $200,000?
In all three versions, the victim of the button push is described as someone "whom you don't..."
What is "know"?
The version that provides the most immediate and personal poetic justice for the button-pusher.
What is the short story?
This adaptation is the most faithful to the short story's plot, until it changes the last 30 seconds completely.
What is the Twilight Zone episode?
Arthur's primary moral objection to pushing the button, which he calls "murder."
What is that it is immoral (or that it's a "sick joke")?
This is the only version of the story where this main character survives the ending.
Who is Arthur Lewis?
The length of time the couple has to make their decision in all three versions.
What is 24 hours?
The version that offers no personal consequence to the main characters, suggesting they "get away with it."
What is the Twilight Zone episode?
The 2009 film adds this physical "tell" for Norma Lewis that motivates her desire for money.
What is her foot injury (and the resulting limp/medical bills)?
The proof Norma uses to argue that the proposition isn't a "practical joke."
What is that Mr. Steward came back for the key?
The "consequence" for Norma in this version isn't personal punishment, but simply this.
What is living with the knowledge of what she did (or "getting the money")?
In the short story, Norma justifies the push by claiming it's probably just a "psychological experiment" run by one of these.
What is an "eccentric millionaire"?
The version that suggests the consequence is not just a single death, but a "supernatural" punishment that affects the whole family.
What is The Box?
While the short story is a simple moral parable, the 2009 film adds a complex mythology involving water, lightning, and these "portals."
What are the "water boxes"?
The specific way Arthur dies in the short story.
What is being pushed in front of a subway train ("a pushing crowd")?
At the end of the episode, Mr. Steward reveals the button unit is not unique and will be "reprogrammed" for this person.
Who is a new, unsuspecting person/couple?
In The Box, Arlington Steward reveals he is merely an "employee" for a much higher power testing humanity's "viability" as this.
What is a species or entity.
In The Box, the final consequence is that Arthur must do this to Norma, redeeming humanity in Steward's eyes.
What is shoot her (sacrifice her)?
In the short story and Twilight Zone episode, Arthur's job is vague, but the 2009 film gives him this specific, high-stakes job, adding a layer of external pressure.
What is working at NASA?
Mr. Steward's final, devastating question to Norma, which reveals the story's true theme.
What is, "Did you really think you knew your husband?"
By sparing Arthur, this adaptation changes the theme from "the unknown nature of others" to a cynical statement on this.
What is detached apathy (or the ease of committing an anonymous crime)?
This is the only version where the cash prize is directly and ironically linked to the death of the "unknown" person.
What is the short story (where the $50k is Arthur's life insurance)?
This "Box" version's consequence is a singular, cruel, moral lesson.
What is the short story?
The Twilight Zone episode implies the consequence is cyclical, while The Box implies it's a large-scale test.
This is the only version where the characters are "redeemed," choosing self-sacrifice over selfishness in the end.
What is The Box (movie)?