Social Dynamic in a Zombie Apocalypse

Season 1 of The Walking Dead, has a divers group of characters. The evolution of personality and moral responsibility will shift within a person or group in accordance to the “survive or die” scenario during a zombie apocalypse. Culminating a group of diverse abilities is essential to surviving. The main theme in the show is one of survival, the dead are walking all around them, but they are not necessarily the main problem. The battle over adversity is much more prevalent than just fear of dying. The characters are forced to realign a civilization around a new obstacle, yet essentially it is not much different than everyday life. The main issue is finding a group that can survive on skill alone instead of money or material things. They must also keep in mind that the dead are not the only threat in their existence.

The main protagonist Rick Grimes is portrayed as a small town sheriff who maintains a sense of responsibility and obligation to the people he is with. Though he is frequently challenged on his standings and behavior, he remains as a moral compass throughout the season. One of the best illustrations of this is the “bicycle walker”. Rick first comes across the walker whose only remaining parts were the upper half of a woman's body: head, arms, torso, nothing from the waist down but a few dragging entrails. The reality of that woman was something that he could not even process. He envisions her as one who was once alive and a human, comparable to himself he has taken pity on her and gives her the dignity of ending her life. Once Rick shoots her he struggles with killing her because he tells her, “I’m sorry this happened to you.” This shows that he knows it is disrespectful and wrong to just shoot someone, and he experie...

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... worth something, and that one person’s sacrifice could help many. The comradely behavior they portrayed is laced with celebratory hope. The feeling of hope is a catalyst in the show that brings the characters up to ensure that a tone of despair is not completely overshadowing everything.

The basic core of the show is that the apocalypse is not entirely different than normal life. When people are put into situations that are new, there are various reactions. Some will bring their old values and beliefs, others will evolve into something they did not even know they were capable of. A few will find out they are more capable and valuable in a civilization such as this than they were before. When it comes down to it, authority figures can come from anywhere, people of power will fight to provide for themselves, and no one is safe from anything in a zombie apocalypse.