Analysis Of Dead Like Me

The protagonists in the history of the zombie genre have been unpredictable in their backgrounds and reasoning for continued survival. In the three stories of this essay, the differences in the protagonist archetype vary greatly but maintain the same cohesion. The grim and fruitless future and the collapse of civilization during the zombie apocalypse leads many to succumb to the unnatural death and reanimation that has fated the world. Even though the protagonists vary greatly throughout the plethora of books, films, and other media in the zombie genre, all of the characters are not only tested by the collapse of civilization but by the denial of trust in their family and friends. Those who once were colleagues, spouses or just acquaintances

The main character acts like a zombie in order to survive the apocalypse. The perspective of this story is a glimpse into an alternate hero archetype. Unlike Home Delivery, the main character has “joined” the zombie horde by imitating them instead of joining the fight for survival. This mimicry blurs the line of survivor and zombie in the protagonist and they find themselves having difficulty relating to and admitting to their own humanity. Other survivors beat the main character mercifully for acting like this and, it seems, this fellow has seen his share of beatings in his life as a human. Simply put, the point is made that facing the horror of a zombie apocalypse, the lunacy of survival techniques become normal over time and are an extension of oneself and a direct result of individual’s life and

In Home Delivery, the zombies of this story are created by an extraterrestrial ball of worms. The zombies in this tale are not destroyed by severing the head, heart, or any other body part. It seems that every part of the resurrected corpse is independent of itself and remains reanimated. A decapitated head is seen still moving and blinking and the only way to exterminate the threat is by fire (King 2099). The nature of this zombie type leads the main character through the plight that is typical of a story in this genre. The reanimated corpses are dealt with in an aggressive way because they are actively hostile and seemingly undying, even when bifurcated or decapitated. This leads the survival to the path of carnage rather than submissiveness seen in Dead Like Me.

The “Bastards” as they are called, in the story Dead Like Me, are listless and catatonic creatures continuing on in shells of themselves. There are truly two types of zombies in this story and the only real thing that distinguishes them is their heartbeat or lack thereof. The main protagonist, a “hero” as he is, maintains his survival through the thought that acting like the zombies will lead to being ignored by the zombies. He learns this from watching a catatonic girl behaving like a living-undead zombie who succeeds at fitting in so well she eventually cannot be distinguished from an actual zombie (Castro