Mrs. Scott
English Comp
15 March 2013
Zombies
A zombie is defined as a deceased human body that has somehow become reanimated and autonomous, yet no longer has sufficient brain or vital functions to be considered alive or capable of thought. The characteristics of a zombie have evolved over the years and throughout various cultures. In Africa they portray a zombie as a soulless being used as a slave for a voodoo priest. Never the less we will take a look at the American portrayal of the modern day zombie. We will do this by dividing the “zombie” into four different categories; the walkers, the runners, the crawlers, and the mutated zombies. In the older legends, zombie lore usually involved some form of voodoo or evil magic, but most modern zombie-themed media centralizes the idea of a rapidly spreading disease or virus causing the human species to turn into mindless beings with an intense hunger for the human flesh.
Walkers were the first breed of zombie that actually craved human flesh. The usually spell-induced African zombies were just soulless beings; they had no desire to feast on people. Very fragile, and mostly decomposed, these “walkers” move extremely slowly. However, what they lack in agility, they make up for in magnitude. Usually walking around aimlessly, the walkers normally travel in groups, a lot like a flock of birds, but at the first sight of flesh the group converges and the next thing you know your overcome. Of all the types of zombies, walkers are probably the most realistic. The idea of somebody dying and being resurrected as a necrotic, dead cannibal is terrifying to a majority of the population. They may lurch about and stumble comically, but it only takes one to alert the rest of the group and nest thing you know you have an army chasing you from all directions. All for the BRAINS!
Created to put zombie movies at a faster pace, the “runner” is not technically a zombie. Customarily originated by a man-made disease or