Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...

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bodies to pieces. (Cavarero 29)
Even though the zombies in Kirkman's work don't blow themselves up, or even
consciously choose to attack the living bodies around them, they are bodies which
literally rip other bodies to pieces. Suicide bombers are also unsuspected. Similarly,
there is no way of telling who might become a zombie. Beyond that though, they call up
associations of other disturbing images of disfigurement and panic. Relating to these
metamorphosed bodies is impossible though. Instead we must turn to the actions of
surviving characters, who are only a breath away from losing their consciousness as well.
Through this connection, viewers are prompted to acknowledge that morality and identity
are inseparably linked to circumstance.
My interest in the narrative stems from a curiosity regarding how the fantasies of
violence it depicts are related to a fear of the military-industrial complex and overdependence
upon federally consolidated power. The social critique embedded in The
Walking Dead is an unsettling portrayal of the illusion of safety. The various government
agencies and other institutions of the world supported through elections, wealth, and
power were made up of individuals just as vulnerable to the epidemic and ensuing crisis
as those who were part of an anxious poor and middle class. Stressing the existence of an
unrealized search for intervention among surviving characters reveals a population
unaccustomed to confronting violence firsthand. Tracing the ways these characters must
use the force of violence themselves and react toward it after living through a world
unarguably permeated by its existence is an interesting exercise in exploring the
composition of the American psyche. Such considerations can be useful in determining
whether identity is at all stable or entirely alterable based upon changing situations. This
raises questions about the sanctity of law and other social contracts. Moreover, this