Poem Analysis: Zombie March

. What is the title of the text and what is the text about?

The title of the text is 'Zombie March,' and it is about a (now dead) husband who returns to his wife's home, but then faces rejection because death signifies the end of marriage (MacNabb, 2012). Following this, the husband gathers other zombies and starts a political movement (MacNabb, 2012).

2. What is the author's view? How do I know?

The author's view is that people who are different will be marginalized even by loved ones. I know this because the way the wife treats the zombie husband and the fact that the husband engaged in protesting after being marginalized reflects most historical cases of oppression (MacNabb, 2012).

This also leads to other views such as oppression being

immoral and unjust.

3. What is the evidence presented by the author to support ideas?

The evidence presented is not empirical, but metaphysical, which captures an abstract idea of morality or justice. The story itself serves as a thought experiment where a different class of people (zombies) are marginalized, oppressed, and start a political movement (MacNabb, 2012). The reader is then supposed to have one of two reactions: the oppression of people based on class is bad, or the oppression of people based on class is not bad. Because most of us would react that this is bad, our reactions provide evidence for the moral claim that oppression based on class is bad, and that oppression is a form of injustice.

4. Is the evidence valid? How do I know?

The issue with all claims about morality and justice is that there is no "direct connection" between our reactions and these abstract ideas. It is not as if human brains somehow access an abstract world and measure some object in that abstract world. We cannot touch morality and justice or interact with it in any physical manner. In fact, we cannot even test a consequence of it because it is causally inert; an immoral action does not produce anything different from a moral action.

However, because the oppression in the story is motivated by prejudice rather than rational thought, and this is also true for most cases in real life, I believe that this evidence is valid.

5. Is the evidence relevant? How do I know?

The evidence is definitely relevant. To determine relevance, the evidence must make it more or less likely that the claim is actually true. I think that a story, which brings out the reaction that oppression is bad, makes it more likely that the claim, that oppression is bad, is actually true.

6. Have I heard/read anything similar or dissimilar? What was it?

I heard that in 'Warm Bodies,' the premise of the show is that being a zombie is a curable disease, but people who have this disease are treated as second-class people. Again, the mistreatment of these zombies not only brings out the same reactions as 'Zombie March,' but also brings out strong emotions against the mistreatment of these zombies.

7. Do I agree or disagree with the views expressed by the author? Why?

I agree with the views expressed by the author. Although these views were, in some sense, indirect, it is clear to me that the implication is straightforward. I cannot imagine why it would not be immoral or unjust to oppress a group of people based on their class. Even if we assume that it is not immoral or unjust, then that kind of society would be worse to live in than a society that does not oppress.

References
MacNabb, B. (2012). Zombie March. World Wide Web: Flash Fiction Online.