Walkers

Coming to terms with who I am did not result in a single moment of self-actualization. Rather, a whole season, lasting 22 episodes and 45 minutes each.

Infatuated with the afterlife and zombies and anything gore, I've found myself attracted to the horrific jump scares in movies that leave your skin crawling with goosebumps. To this matter, nobody can be surprised when I say that The Walking Dead* is my favorite TV show. But as season 10 rolled around, I began to wonder about the zombies and their emotions.

The antagonist, Alpha, is crueler to Alexandria (Rick's community) than the Walkers. Her community, The Whisperers, dress up as Walkers, wearing skin they have shaved off of the Walkers' bodies to cover their human scent, saunter among Walkers to survive. Alpha governs The Whisperers with harsh punishments (often death) and claims that no emotion is important to survive, killing her baby daughter in the process. As the season progressed, I realized that though the Walkers harmed people, they had no choice. They simply acted on a natural instinct and if anything, they were better than the humans they were surrounded by. Humans are actually blessed with the ability to think and communicate. We have a conscience. I came to the realization that humans are their own enemy because they hurt each other and they do it while having the ability to stop and think of their actions.

The most touching moment of this show was Alpha’s other daughter telling her she loved her despite knowing her cruelty.

In my own life, I’ve experienced anger towards people who are simply unaware of their actions, and for that reason, I feel empathy towards the creature from Frankenstein.

Victor Frankenstein is a perfect example of a human who can think but chooses to hurt another, while the creature is like the Walkers. He taught himself everything but he was left to succumb to his own pain in the end, for a fault that he could not prevent. He was a baby, alive for only two years with a minor ability to think. Victor did develop a conscious throughout his lifetime, and his ability to think proved it. But because of his own cruelty and his own motives, he hurt another. Had he provided the creature a companion he would have survived with his family in peace. He was his own enemy in the end, and his creature cried after realizing his death. He knew nothing, but he regretted all the misery he caused in his own despair.

*Background for those of you who don't have context: The Walking Dead takes place after nearly half of the human population becomes exposed to an infection that leads to momentary death. Shortly after a short death, the former people now called "Walkers," wake up in a zombie-like state. Walkers feast on any living animal, preferring humans. The only way to be infected with the disease is to be bitten by one of these - if you're not completely devoured as a meal in the process. The plot follows Rick Grimes' family and friends as they create a community and learn to survive in the wilderness without becoming Walkers' dinner.