Preview

A Critical Commentary on Amy Wilentz' "A Zombie Is a Slave Forever"

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
925 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Critical Commentary on Amy Wilentz' "A Zombie Is a Slave Forever"
A Zombie is a Slave Forever by Amy Wilentz

(eyabut)

Three main issues comprise the article: awareness, freedom and sensitivity.

Historical tools were employed to tell the story of the zombie concept. The author patently drew the subject of awareness by making the majority of the article’s body very informative and narrative. This manner gave the impression that the author aimed to educate the readers with the subject. The image of zombies was shifted into a different light, a story the hoi polloi seems to be oblivious to. In the author’s introduction, it was demonstrated how zombies are now a large part of popular culture, being a favorite in Halloween and all. But more than Halloween, today’s society, or significant parts of it at least, have put zombies into a very high pedestal of ubiquity. Famous movies and TV shows like “The Walking Dead” and “Zombieland” are everywhere. Party themes, charity events, etc. have been adapting zombies as a hip event concept. And they have also penetrated the game world with Plants vs. Zombies. And there are just so much more varieties that have plastered zombies to their brand. In other words, the zombie concept might be taken for granted nowadays, and people do not see through, or even think of seeing through the history and meaning behind the popular craze of the undead.
So, this article flashed brightly to raise awareness. It turns out that apparently, the zombie concept is much more sensitive than most of us would think. As aforementioned, three issues were found in the article, but two of these three are inseparably intertwined: awareness and sensitivity. The article’s desired effect is sensitivity and this achieved by raising awareness first. These two are the effect and method. The cause, the reason, and the meat to the bones of the article is the issue of freedom, from which the zombie concept traces its origins.

This issue ignites discourse on what happened in the past, and its implications to the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    George R. R. Martin’s short story about zombies does not focus on the zombie apocalypse as so many stories and movies do in today’s popular zombie culture. In what can only be assumed to be a far distant future, Martin’s zombies are surgically altered humans whose brains have been replaced by a synthetic alternative. This turns these formerly alive humans into form of cheap, or slave, labor that is exploited on planets where most humans are either unwilling, or unable to work (Martin, 2008). Martin’s zombies in this story harken back to the origins of the modern zombie mythos. Those being derived from the African slaves who toiled on the sugar plantations of Hatti (Estes, 2012). I do not think it is any coincidence that Martin’s zombies are…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These zombies gnaw and pounce as they sniff the air for any human flesh. They pound doors and windows and get agitated once confronted with 10-foot cyclone fences. Once they are shot in the head, they die. Basically that is it on the zombie’s side of view because we never get to know what they are thinking. One of the most exhilarating pleasures of this movie is the script flipping. This is definitely a twist on the century’s most popular horror. “Warm Bodies” is a nicely directed and well-placed terrific love story with a lot of…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Native Guard Essay

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages

    different stories amalgamate, and open a dialogue about the impact of history on today’s world.…

    • 1550 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wp1110 Unit 9 Final Paper

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What makes us feel horror in contemporary culture? What are the modern traits of monstrosity? How does aesthetic horror re-define itself in political and social terrors? We shall base our seminars on the reading of academic texts from various disciplines and of two films that re-defined the horror genre: the ultimate zombie-film The Night of the Living Dead by George Romero (1968) and Funny Games US by Michael Haneke (2007) which offers a radical critique on mediated representations of horror. Through the close reading of articles and the two films, we shall explore the many facets of horror and discover the common ‘ingredients’ of the horrifying experience in art, politics, sociology and…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jurgen Warmbrunn Report

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Humans can try to prepare and prevent zombies from attacking, biting, and killing them, but it’s survivors personal fear that will ultimately put their life in the greatest danger. Fear can be controlled (just like zombies) if you recognize the signs and symptoms, you just have to educate yourself. Jurgen Warmbrunn, with help from Paul Knight, wrote a report that included critical information that says to kill a zombie, you must aim for the brain and not the heart (Brooks, 35). Jurgen and Paul noted the signs and recognized the symptoms and all that was left was for people to read the reports. If more people would have read the report, it could have saved millions of lives. Jurgen even said “if more people had read our report and worked to makes it recommendations a reality, then that plan would have never needed to exist”(Brooks, 36).…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Neo Conservatism

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From a social constructivism perspective, the undead are what humans make of them, and a counter zombie security community will be made. In this community all actors will share sovereignty and resources and only in very extreme cases will humans turn on each other and exploit each other. Socialists see that humans may have some desire to become a zombie, which creates a collective identity amongst…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I looked to my left then to my right, it was dark all around, except for the light emanating from the flashlight mounted on my gun. I cradled my assault rifle, it was my lifeline, if it was gone, I was dead, or worse... Alive. I heard a shriek, not from a human, but from a zombie...... I looked down the alleyway ahead it was fully dark now, I heard running footsteps behind me. I turned around as fast as I could. A blood covered zombie was running toward me, I was scared for my life. I chopped the zombie down with my rifle, the muzzle flashes lighting up the ally. Suddenly I heard the blood curdling cries of many zombie- oh no, I made to much noise. Now they were pouring in from the street into the alleyway I was in. Around forty of them were coming towards me, I turned around to try to escape.. at least five more in that direction. i sprayed the five zombies down with my gun, pulled the pin on a grenade, dropped it, and sprinted in that direction. I made it onto the street.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dawn Of The Dead Analysis

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When people watch these type of movies, they get scare, but it is what we are currently living in our daily activities. I think that the idea of Zombie can be compared to how people are dependent on technology. A good example is when there is a young person walking in the streets looking at his phone and not paying attention to nothing else. People are so dependent on technology that even personal contact is not necessary anymore. Moreover, the idea of an apocalypse that will destroy the world transmitted by movies is also happening right now. Humans are destroying the environment and contaminating all the natural resources. Furthermore, the world is living its own extinction, and it is due to the people’s bad habits and overconsumption. Finally, these movies produce on people to question: what would they do if they were in those situations? Thus, People can challenge their concepts and abilities about what to do when watching these…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zombies are less human, as they walk the streets, travel in packs, and they do not have a voice to inform us why they are attacking or their desire to kill. Frankenstein seems to have true feelings and we have a likeness to him, whereas he has soulful desires of love and hate. Zombies today are a bore, the only way of survival is for them to attack humans for survival, not understanding the reason why they have to. When I read stories or watch shows and movies about zombies, I am not amused on how they are created. It’s either by just showing up, stemming from aliens, or attacking a human in which that human becomes a zombie themselves, which is not…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Asdfadfadsfagdsgeawerqwers

    • 1208 Words
    • 35 Pages

    Among the iconic tales of horror monsters are the classic fictional flesh-eating creatures that can only die by decapitation or a bullet to the brain. Survivors are going to need aiming practice because guns are not as accurate as they appear in the movies. Although most zombies in the in classic flicks, are shown as slow moving wanderers, a lot of zombies in modern pop culture are super fast hunters. The strength of the undead monsters is also ridiculously unfathomable. However, the explanation behind the two is due brain limitations because humans can only use 10% of their muscle mass. Zombies in fiction always stay in massive hordes. The dead, undead feel warmth in each others company or maybe not, but experts say that zombies can detect each other through the smell of rotting flesh. Some portrayals of zombies are through religion. It's literally the dead the rising because of some spiritual apocalypse, but it is more probable to conceive that a ghoul of the night would rise because human brought them on themselves.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 35 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Is Class a Zombie Category?

    • 5056 Words
    • 21 Pages

    Before I start defining what a ‘zombie category’ is, it is important to understand Individualisation theory. Individualisation is considered to have emerged mainly through Globalisation (i.e. communication and transportation which are…

    • 5056 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meat vs. Vegan

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed.Sylvan Barnet & Hugo Bedau. 9th ed.Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2011. Print.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zombies often portrayed as villains, are actually victims. In the Voodoo religion, zombies are said to be people brought back from the dead through magical means by priest called bokors (Radford, 2013). The bokors would capture part of a person’s soul called the zombie astral. The bokors might sell the soul to people who wanted power or he might keep the soul and make it do work. Most believers fear becoming a zombie. The bokors power to make zombies is used more often as a threat to maintain social order.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Today’s world has a fascination with zombies. There are stories about these undead creatures; from Dawn of the Dead and Resident Evil, to more comedic or romantic versions like Zombieland and Warm Bodies. However, there is one portrayal of an apocalyptic world that stands out above the rest. You have probably heard of a TV series called The Walking Dead. This series has received lots of attention and has grown to have a large cult following today. Why do so many people like this show? The answer is that this show is about more than just killing and running from zombies. This show explores important concepts and ideologies, like family, trust, hope, humanity ad so much more. One thing the show does is allow us to explore the effects society, and lack…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zombies are known to have “unstoppable craving for human flesh, especially brains” (Radforf, 2012). These plaque-infected ghouls have insatiable hunger; they will consume any living thing in their…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays