“Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell has inspired multiple generations and helped create the well known Carpenter film, “The Thing”.
In the story, the monster is a representation of the times as most Scifi was but the movies branch out and explore our negative fears.
My interpretation based on both films and the story is the alien is a shadow. It is shown as a, mindless, unrelenting force of chaos and destruction wanting only to instinctively survive.
Now in all three stories the only way to persevere is to be offensive and burn it away, there is no negotiation, no reasoning, no understanding and no peace.
The only difference in the original story is that the alien witnesses the humans blow up and burn its ship and fellow crew before it thaws. This could be seen as a reason for its behavior but also, again the idea of attacking the shadow thus causing all the pain and suffering from the get go.
It is made clear in the written story that the alien is awake and aware as it sits below the ice, that it even could have telepathically influenced earth’s creatures around it. It sends dreams and messages to some of the men while they bring it back.
This could be seen as the shadow being suppressed. It isn’t solved and is still lurking in the background influencing the consciousness.
The creature breaking free and attempting to assimilate everything in its sight could be the shadow gaining enough power to push through and cause a loss of control.
The final death of the alien in the books is final but with loss of half the human population. It shows a high cost of not handling the shadow.
In the movies a sliver of the creature remains (or is implied) as well as total distruction of all save one or two. Both show the same outcome really, a shadow unattended and ignored can destroy everything a person or people hold dear.
