Social Zombie's

John Winchester

Ms. Cline

English 102

11/04/2011

Social Zombie's

Death is not the worst that can happen to men. -Plato

Monster's in literature are used not just to scare and thrill the reader, but they are used to give a deeper reflection of humanity itself. Monsters are used to portray the human conditions and dynamics. To present problems currently wrong with our society and problems that always exist. Monsters that best reflect the dynamics of society are zombies. They are used to symbolize mindless consumerism, to mirror the lump and proletariat, and even to demonstrate the lengths a human can suffer while still “living”.

Zombies originated as folklore from Africa, that a Voodoo witch doctor could reanimate the dead. The zombie then would be a slave to their master's will, having no thoughts or willpower of there own. Later, zombies took on another form by George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, taking on a new role of mindless mass waves of relentless undead, eating human flesh and multiplying with every victim they bite. Creating a sub-genre of horror, Zombie films have only thrived since Romero's cult classic. New themes of apocalyptic demise and biological weaponry reflect mans constant need for war, with the zombie portraying the final outcome of man on man crimes. Zombies are the perfect foil for mankind because they reflect the worst of humanity being thoughtless and impulsive with zero regard for life, compassion or society.

George Romero's genre of zombie film is referred to as his Dead series. His revolutionary ideas took away voodoo controlling masters, but still left zombies brainless with an appetite for human flesh. Having removed the idea of someone controlling the zombies thus turning them into massive multiplying mindless violently scavenging undead invokes a new level of fear, the fear of the possible. Unlike fictional folklore the idea of reanimated flesh has puzzled brilliant minds for generations. When Mary Shelley wrote of Frankenstein's fascination with the impossible task of bringing what once was dead back to life, little did she know over the next hundred years that would be exactly where medical science has led us. Hearts can be transplanted, lungs, livers, kidneys all the way down to the lens of an eye. Fear resides in the idea that a unwanted occurrence is possible, and what would have seemed grotesque and unholy a century ago is now common place throughout the world.

Fictional taboos like vampires or aliens, have irked man's curiosity for years but since Lestat and ET have yet to show themselves it is easy to cast those fear off. Whereas a zombie is a far scarier line of thought. As previously stated, medical doctors do commonly reanimate dead flesh from donor to donor to save lives. It is a not so far leap for a totally dead person being brought back to life but without the humanity that is considered to be trapped in the soul of man. Facing the new horror of people that we once knew now have deteriorating dead exteriors, leaves us terrified and afraid of the future of science. Movies and books that are more believable to a persons subconscious are the films and novels that frighten society. Our neighbors walking dead in the street craving the flesh of the living and relentless in their pursuit of food.

Bio-chemical warfare, apocalyptic scenarios, big business with an evil twisted scientist at the helm are all thoughts that media and real life situations have led society to believe in. When translated on to film or paper with the idea the our greatest fears leading man to the mindless eating of their neighbors for sustenance is more than a harrowing fiction it's a possibility that we subconsciously review as imminent. That an infectious bite could turn loved ones into mindless cannibals, adding to the overwhelming undead army. That a fellow survivor could be hiding a zombie bite could endanger everyone else. Adding a new suspense to fear, other survivors. The situation of every man for themselves. People trying to survive off of their wits and the resources around them. The human dynamics of compassion and callousness, to help their fellow man or to just abandon them to help themselves. The shock of a unstoppable undead hoard can reveal the true traits of every character, ranging from being catatonic and helpless to hopefully. To sacrifice others for self-preservation or self-sacrifice so others may live. The dynamics are endless and board, but mainly are basic human instincts. “These generic protocols include not only the zombies themselves and the imminent threat of violent death, but also a post-apocalyptic backdrop: the collapse of social infrastructures, the resurgence of survivalist fantasies, and the fear of other surviving humans.” (Bishop 19) That is just only the surface of zombies and what they do, but what they mean is much deeper then that. The motifs of zombies in stories can reveal fears about political unrest, social class problems, forms of terrorism, biological warfare, and rampant diseases.

In many of Romero's movies, he uses zombies to reveal current problems in society. To indirectly talk about social taboos by using the undead to reflect the problems of the living. Each of his films talk about the present problems in America at the time of the filming. In Night of the Living Dead it can be analyzed multiply ways. When the film was made in 1968, their were a lot of social and political changes going on in America. The Civil Rights movement, hippies taking over popular culture, the Vietnam War, and fears of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The representation of the zombies eating the living is suppose to be one generation consuming another generation. Just like when the hippie movement took over conservative America's culture.

Another way of looking at it as to become a zombie The unstoppable carnage that zombies created could relate to the deaths of all human life cause by war. Military or civilian, everyone in wartime is effected by the war. During the movie there was reports of radiation from a satellite that exploded in the atmosphere that might of caused the zombie outbreak. Exploiting the fears deep culture fears of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union and fears of nuclear radiation. The posses that are killing the zombies could represent vigilantism, people taking the law into their own hands. Masses unjustly cause the death of an African American named Ben at the closing of the Night of the Living Dead. He was the last surviving member in the house only until the local posses mistakenly kills him, they drag his body and burn it with the pile of undead remains. It could symbolize the injustice African Americans dealt with in America during the Civil Rights Movement and before. “...Ben, the black man lynched (at least figuratively) at the conclusion of Night of the Living Dead. Ben's body... is destroyed and humiliated by a redneck posse that assumes he is inhuman.” (Lowenstein 30) How cruel people can treat others that are different from themselves or in a flight of panic and frenzy. Many of these topics were social taboos at the time. What Romero did was bring these subjects up in a different light, using horror to fault society into admitting fear of change.

In another Romero's sequel Dawn of the Dead is a satire of American consumerism. The feelings transmitted to the audience by use of a blood hungry zombie on the hunt for living flesh can translate various themes of humanity. Whether it's a populous fighting for their lives, or a military cue that goes wrong leaving humans to slug it out amongst themselves; Zombies work well as a foil for mankind.

Works Cited

Romero, George, Dir. Night of the Living Dead. 1968. Film.

Lowenstein, Adam.: "Living dead: fearful attractions of film."
Representations (110) 2010, 105-28. (2010)

Bishop, Kyle William.: "American zombie gothic: the rise and fall (and rise) of the walking dead in popular culture. Foreword by Jerrold E. Hogle."
Jefferson, NC; London: McFarland, 2010. pp. Vii, 239. (2010)