Zone One Marxist Analysis

Zone One and Marxism Colson Whitehead's novel, Zone One, draws attention to the issue of consumer capitalism through a post-apocalyptic plot line. Leif Sorensen draws on at this point by discussing how Zone One feeds into his claim that “capitalism insists that the future will be an endless repetition of its cycles of creative destruction” (562). My essay builds and extend this claim by focusing on an overlooked aspect of the novel, the stragglers’ role of attempting to cling to the past. By concentrating on the pursuit of the past, I highlight Whitehead’s assertion that people “have this consumer memory that’s very hard-wired” (“Colson Whitehead on Zombies”). I argue that Zone One emphasizes that the human instinct to cleave to the past is a result of consumerism. Whitehead’s inclusion of nostalgia throughout Zone One shows the powerful influence of the past and consumer society, consistently observed through the actions of the stragglers. Utilizing the critical school of Marxism will allow me to relate today’s society to the nostalgic habits reflected in Zone
People want what is familiar to them, which is familiarity the “marketing of culture” carefully designed (“Colson Whitehead on Zombies”). Consumerism is not only in Zone One, or 1970s New York, but it also plays a crucial role in today’s society. Materialistic tendencies are all over today’s culture, and Whitehead shows the dangers and hollowness these types of tendencies bring. In the end various social classes may divide society, but we are all a product of consumerism. Our lives and actions intend to be different or to stand out, but end up being a slightly different variation of something we have already seen or heard. Zone One emphasizes that the human instinct to cleave to the past is a result of consumerism and nostalgia, thoroughly represented throughout Zone