Would you like to talk with strangers and make friends with them? People in the society enjoy having a conversation every day because they want to build up relationships with each other. In the movie Warm Bodies by Jonathan Levine comic book The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, zombies are “The Other” because they are not human. R, the main character in Warm Bodies, has the conscience since he is a zombie at the beginning of the story. After he falls in love with a human girl named Julie, he wants to mitigate the tension between human and the zombies. Unfortunately, Julie’s father, General Grigio, wants to kill R because he believes zombies are not communicable and they harm human. The Walking Dead describes “The Other” as both zombies and humans. …show more content…
Rick, the main character, believes all strangers are the other except his member because he does not trust strangers until he knows stranger’s personality.
In the post-apocalypse, people cannot trust other people easily because all people’s human instinct is selfish if people struggle for survival in a difficult situation. Many people describe others as something that is different from ordinary or someone that is unknowing and unacceptable. “The Other” occurs in Warm Bodies and The Walking Dead because misunderstanding, racism and changed society are three factors effect to people’s judgment on strangers.
The first factor is misunderstanding. Many people misunderstand the others’ personality character because they judge people by using their own way. For example, zombies are “The others” for human because they are living dead. In the essay Perfect Strangers: The Zombies Imaginary and the Logic of Representation, Gordon Coonfiled, the author,
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explains that zombies are the perfect strangers because they have no memory and thus are incapable of acknowledgement. They have no culture and language, and thus are incommunicable. (Coonfiled) In the society, people can understand each other better during the conversation. Also, people are willing to communicate with someone who has the similar value as them. People feel fear and unsafe if they cannot figure out the stranger’s motivation. Communication is a way that people use to understand each other’s motivation, desire and value. In the article Teen Movies and Summit Entertainment’s Construction of Warm Bodies, Catherine Buckley mentions that R, the main character in Warm Bodies, is your typical zombie that devours human brains but the difference from other zombies is that he has a conscience. (Buckley) All humans in the Warm Bodies believe that zombies are dangerous because zombies eat human brain for food and they are unable to communicable. Also, some people believe that a stranger who comes from a different place or has a different background may act in a way that native people would not accept. Actually, people can treat strangers friendly if strangers are not harmful. Misunderstanding on stranger has an influence for people to build up a close relationship. Therefore, people increase conflict when they misunderstand to each other’s motivation. The second factor is racism.
Some people judge strangers at first sight based on people’s appearance and race. In chapter three of The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Rick, the main character, and his group meet four strangers at a prison. Dexter, one of the four prisoners, is a tall, strong black man. He tells Rick’s group that he was a murder before society collapsed. After a member find out that two girls were murdered, they suspect Dexter is the murder and believe that Dexter is a threat (Kirkman). Even though Dexter is innocent, Rick’s group still has a bias towards him. Rick’s group believes that prisoners are dangerous and untrustworthy. Dexter is the first person that people suspect because his experience make people fear and his appearances looks as a popular type of villains from movie. The racism exists in Warm Bodies too. Julie’s father, General Grigio, tries to kill R because he has the authority to protect other people and believes that R is enemy because he is zombies. (Levine) Some people are stubborn and they do not want to change their mind when they judge people. Grigio refuses to accept R because R is not a human. However, a person who is racist will judge a stranger who has the different culture and background is the other because he or she thinks strangers do not fit in the community. As the result, people judge strangers to be “The Other” when they believe people are different race cannot join
together. The last factor is changed society. People may change the personality to adopt for different situations. In the chapter three of The Walking Dead, Thomas, a white prisoner, kills two girls of Rick’s group without any reason and wants to kill another girl names Andrea. (Kirkman) Perhaps, Thomas has the mental problems. The book does not mentions why Thomas wants to murder girls. Probably, He just satisfies his own desire by killing girls from Rick’s group. Mental problem can change a person’s character and it makes a person to some crazy things. Sometimes, people feel fear and they try to stay away from strangers after they cannot communicate with them. Thomas is an example the other in the society because he is a threat for Rick’s group. Because people need to survive in the situation of the world is being changed, some of people express their anti-civilization emotions freely. In Warm Bodies, the situation is similar to The Walking Dead. Boneys, another type of “The Other”, are unable to communicate and they do not have conscious. Boneys attack to zombies at the end of the film because R and Julie’s love evokes all zombies’ conscience. Bonnies fear that humans and zombies will annihilate them together in someday because human believes that boneys are dangerous (Levine). Boneys wants to survive and they must find the “partner” or allies. They believe that zombies are similar to them because both of them are “The Other” for humans. Boneys decide to catch R and Julie because R and Julie break the relationship between boneys and zombies. However, “The Other” will express out their emotion by use violence to attack their enemies if they feel unsafe. Therefore, changed society causes “The Other” because different people have the right to choose the way they want for survival. In conclusion, misunderstanding, racism and changed society are three factors in The Walking Dead and Warm Bodies to create “The Other”. People are willing to communicate with other people if they believe that they are similar and they can trust each other. Most of the time, a stranger becomes “The Other ” because his or her action is different as another people in the society. Usually, “The Other’ will show their feeling because they think society is unfair and they blame for their fate. Also, many people believe that others are different from their culture and prevent other to become part of their group.
Both White Zombie and “Dead Men Walking in the Cane Fields” represent the early zombie and both of them embody Cohen’s first thesis “The Monster is a Cultural Body” Both the story and the film have zombies and both of these works make their zombies appear scary with dead like characteristics, however the real reason why they are scary is that, at the time, they tried to change society and that scared people. The people that liked society the way it was didn’t want another group to gain power or righ...
There are many examples throughout “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” that show that prejudice is a human flaw. According to Les Goodman, “You were so quick to kill, Charlie, and you were so quick to tell us who we had to be careful off. Well maybe you had to kill. Maybe Peter there was trying to tell us something. Maybe he’d found out something
James Parker essay “Our Zombies, Ourselves,” informs readers that the zombie has almost outranked the vampire, and why they’re so popular. This undead monster originated from a Caribbean folk nightmare and was adapted over time by, the Halperin brothers, William Seabrook and George Romero and numerous others. Much like the vampire, zombies owe their fame to the progressiveness of technology, allowing them to consistently invade various media forms. The zombie has infested countless tv shows, movies, video games, and books, throughout the 21st century. Zombies themselves are soulless corpses who were regurgitated back into the world of the living. This making them rejects from the underworld, this presents the zombie as rejected yet inexpungable. What makes the zombie so popular, however, is that symbolizes everything that is rejected by humanity. “Much can be made of him, because he makes so little of himself. He comes back, He comes back, feebly but unstoppably” (Parker). The zombie represents humanity itself as well as what is rejected by humanity. Much like individuals today, the zombie is burdened by life’s demands, converting to nothing but a rotting, groaning human shell that stumbles through life without a purpose. The zombie is symbolizer of the real world, and all things irrepressible, whereas the vampire is a symbol of an alternate world and all things
As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broke down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men…they are dead bodies!”: From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness,
The zombie race is very different. It doesn't not have many abilities and is not advanced like humans. Their behavior patterns are different. They cannot stand cold or winter weather. Their behavior is very different and difficult to calculate. They usually stand around lingering and waiting to attack when they hear something. They follow noises.Some abilities that they do have is that they have excellent hearing and can walk but aren't blind.The also can smell human blood. Zombies are generally weak but don’t underestimate what they can do to a human.
While facing death in every direction, whether from walkers, physical or mental illness, other people, or even the idea of suicide, the world in which Rick and his group live within is a hardened and cold one. Even as such is true, these people still crave survival and must do so by having food and water inside them and supplies on their back. But what would these people be able to eat as a constant food source you may ask? Well the answer is not a constant one but why not look inside the diet of such people. With much hunting and gathering to be accomplished, nutrients are needed, thus the day is usually started off with fresh garden vegetables or whatever they can muster up from the trees and dirt around them in their
What is otherness? Otherness is defined as “the quality or fact of being different”. We see this term thrown around, but what does it really mean? In the world we live in today, being viewed as “other” is considered a negative aspect of a person's personality. Through the society that impacts how we see ourselves, the thought of otherness has been constructed based off of a person's social identity. In the essay “Between the Sexes, a Great Divide” author Anna Quindlen states that different genders should not define the social aspect of one another. Similarly, in Paul Theroux’s essay titled, “Being a Man” he acknowledges the fact that in the society we live in, “being a man” is a standard stereotype that men should not compare themselves to in order to be considered “manly”. Both authors identify the problem of gender expectations that results from otherness; however, while theroux makes the divide worse by generalizing with a bitter tone, Quindlen invites everyone to “do the dance” despite the discomfort and awkwardness that might occur between both genders.
Did you know that the word zombies come from African and Haitian people? From the legends regarding voodoo doctors that they believe used to and might still do. Bring back the dead for a short amount of time and turn the to mindless slaves. That will follow their every order with no hesitation. Which is actually like the walkers are doing in the Walking Dead but they weren't raised from the dead. I mean they were but not literally the virus brought them back, not a person. Same goes for Kitchenette Building the speaker is not a zombie or a walker but she might as well be. The fact that she continues to live a life she doesn't want and doesn’t make changes to fix it. She just continues to do the same thing every day that, I bet anybody
When an individual unintentionally enters a room full of an unfamiliar crowd, he or she is bound to be embarrassed, but also have an apprehensive sensation of how others in that room will distinguish them. A situation like that establishes a moment in which that person realizes that all eyes are gaping at that individual. Just when that person could consider forgetting what just happened, unfortunately judgments start circulating among the unfamiliar crowd. As most people know, judgments are based off of a person’s appearance, race, religion, or a quality that doesn’t appeal to the person analyzing them. Obviously, judging is something that takes place whether someone likes it or not, but there are certain limits to it that many cross by adding
It seems to be a perennial feature of human society that individuals judge each other by using the language of similarity and difference. Some of these judgments are reasoned, taking into account the actual qualities of the individual being assessed. Too many of these judgments are superficial, presuming from the existence of one readily observable characteristic a whole host of unrelated characteristics. Assessment and prejudice should be very different activities, but too often human beings combine the two, muddling their understanding of other individuals and the world.
In the field of philosophy, zombies are imaginary creatures that are used to illuminate problems regarding consciousness and its relation to the physical world. As compared to those in witchcraft or films, zombies are exactly like human beings in every physical aspect but without conscious experiences. However, zombies behave like humans and some of them even spend considerable amount of time discussing consciousness. While few people believe in the existence of zombies, many state that they are at least conceivable, and some argue that they are possible. Consequently, there are arguments that if zombies are increasingly a bare possibility, then some kind of dualism is true and physicalism is false.
‘The Stranger’ is a philosophical concept introduced by Simmel. The term can be applied to everyone because he believes that anyone can become ‘the stranger.’ ‘The stranger’ is an “element” of the group and we need it to help define ourselves, because constantly we try to distinguish ourselves from others. Coming from a Jewish background, Simmel surely would understand what it means to be a stranger. “A trace of strangeness…easily enters even the most intimate relationships” (Simmel, 1908, p.147). Simmel argues that this “strangeness” exists in all relationships even among closest friends and families. It also exists within our own identity because he believed that it is necessary to be different from the group. The qualities of being near and far demonstrated by ‘the stranger’ mean that he is not strongly part of the social group allowing him to look at things objectively without being bias. “Objectivity can also be defined as freedom,” (Simmel, 1908, p.146) in the case of ‘the stranger,’ means that he is outside the limits of social constraints and is not defined by the society. By being “the freer man” this allows the individual to become ‘the
In the post-apocalyptic fiction and romance novel, “Warm Bodies” by Isaac Marion, we are introduced to an incredibly unconventional, yet important relationship between the characters ‘R’ and Julie. The novel is narrated by R, a zombie who appears to be suffering from an existential crisis. Using eight words, R manages to captivate what it is like to be a zombie, “I am dead, but it’s not so bad.”. One day while out hunting for brains, R consumes the brain of the teenager Perry Kelvin. Eating brains allows for zombies to envision the memories of those they devoured.
The Walking Dead, a television show about surviving in the zombie world, is based on the comic book with the same name created by Robert Kirkman. In this show Rick Grimes, a sheriff's deputy, awakes from his coma and finds himself in a hospital. He soon discovers that while he was in a coma the world had become infected, turning humans into flesh-eating zombies later called Walkers by the characters. As Rick sets out to find his family he encounters many other survivors such as Glenn, Daryl, Carl, Maggie, Carol, Sasha, Hershel, Beth, and Michonne, among many others who have died along the way. Rick and the survivors have been through a lot throughout the show, such as having to move from place to place to avoid being eating by walkers. After walking a longs way, they finally find shelter in an old prison where they now live. Although The Walking Dead shows a lot violence, it sends many positive messages to the viewers that teach them about survival, religion and betray and how each of these can be beneficial in the real world
Humanity is defined by one major factor: one’s understating of the self. By understanding one’s self, one can understand society and the world that surrounds themselves. There is one thing that can often distort one’s personality, one’s identity. By identifying as one thing a person can often change how they act or do certain things. This is often found to hide one’s true motives or intention, but it can also be used to hide hidden factors that aren’t as prevalent. One’s personality and identity are very closely linked, and tend to play off one another. This fact can be show in within multiple works. To name a few authors who demonstrate this fact: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, and Andrei Toom. Their works seek to dive deeper