Zombies: A Study in Mental Activity

It is fascinating to discover how the notion of the "zombie" species came to be. I was always under the impression that it came from the concept of cannibalism and was somehow warped into the idea that a corpse of a human could eat other living humans. However, as we discovered in the last lecture, it's roots come from the U.S. occupation of Haiti wherein the darkness of voodoo and actual accounts of cannibalism. It's also curious that in the media there are different perceptions of what causes zombies to come about. Some texts and forms of media attribute zombies to virus, while others blame the cause on viruses.Either way, the cause has something to do with the blood, especially the blood that flows around the brain.

 This leads me to this week's reading, which has made me rethink the preconceived ideas about zombies. For example, I never once considered the fact that zombies still maintain their human side after their transformation. I, like a good portion of people, see zombies as a monster created out of a human. But after reading and discussing Danger Word, I realized that zombies are just humans turned undead against their will. No one wants to die and be brought back as a flesh-lusting "monster". That point really hit me when Grandpa Joe (in the aforementioned story) goes from determined to protect his grandson to determined to find the boy within seconds of reawakening. It also highlighted a common theme in these sorts of stories: memories and family (or simply sentiment). After Kendrick's mother is turned, she is still capable of remembering Kendrick and Joe and able to speak to them as she once did. In Twenty-Three Snapshots in San Fransisco, memories (in the form of photos) and family (in the form of friends) are at the very core of the story. Even 28 Days Later, this type of sentiment becomes the primary reason for surviving (to avenge the ones they lost, in a way). Thus, I believe that it is this sentiment that reminds the main characters that they are the ones who are human. They are the ones who should survive because they're in the right, they believe. But if these so-called zombies are capable of carrying the very same sentiment, then who is really the monster in these stories?