Engl 231: Apocalypse & Dystopia On A Knife s Edge
Close Reading (of images)
3.58 4.34
does the prison provide safer, happier living quarters than those found on the road? C-Block: room for everyone Tyreese: Allen s spirits rising (3.37.6) Rick: makes raising kids easier (3.37.6) Hershel: prison is special, represents a new beginning for family; thanks Rick (3.40.4) Dale considers leaving w/ Andrea since deaths keep on coming, even when safe from zombies (3.121.2) 1.29.4-7
Lori is quite uncomfortable living alongside hardened criminals (3.38). Do subsequent events justify her anxiety? Does the tale implicitly support the American justice system s use of incarceration? AXEL older man w/ beard & tattoos; crime: armed robbery (3.27.5) incident w/ Lori & Carol showering (3.72-73) doesn t join Dexter s coup works hard w/ plow 3.27.5-8
Lori is quite uncomfortable living alongside hardened criminals (3.38). Do subsequent events justify her anxiety? Does the tale implicitly support the American justice system s use of incarceration? THOMAS hair thinning, glasses crime: claims tax fraud, but not his fault (3.27.6) helps women move stuff into cells (3.37.3); befriends Patricia (3.54.7-9) murders Hershel s younger girls (3.67) tries to kill Andrea chases her into courtyard, calling her whore (3.99.2) 3.27.5-8 attacks Patricia when she tries to help him, also called a whore (3.124-27)
Lori is quite uncomfortable living alongside hardened criminals (3.38). Do subsequent events justify her anxiety? Does the tale implicitly support the American justice system s use of incarceration? ANDREW big eyes; dreadlocks crime: drugs possession, selling, stealing (3.27.7) thinks asking God to break his drug addiction by any means caused the zombie apocalypse (3.28.6) hooked up w/ Dexter in prison gets guns from A-Block for Dexter s coup (3.94.4-7) 3.27.5-8 runs into wilderness following Dexter s death (4.21.4-5)
Lori is quite uncomfortable living alongside hardened criminals (3.38). Do subsequent events justify her anxiety? Does the tale implicitly support the American justice system s use of incarceration? DEXTER big guy; leader of remaining inmates crime: murder of wife and her boyfriend (3.27.8) wrongly accused by Lori of murdering Hershel s girls (3.78); Rick threatens to beat him to death if he s guilty (3.85) 3.27.5-8 tries to kick Rick s group out of prison w/ guns Andrew grabbed from C-Block (3.132-33) executed by Rick during zombie fight
do the survivors learn enough about the zombie hordes to reliably protect themselves, or do the zombies remain a capricious, dangerous threat? Julie & Chris reanimate w/o being bitten (3.45.2, 3.49.2); unclear why Shane took hours to turn, unlike Julie (3.64.3-4) Tyreese tries reasoning w/ zombie Julie (3.46.3-4) Michonne chained zombie boyfriend & his best friend to keep off zombies (4.19.4-7) Rick amputates Allen s bitten leg (4.43-53) Sophia more sorry for, than scared of, zombies: they look sad (4.55.3-6) 4.2.2 Axel wonders whether becoming a zombie hurts what it feels like (4.78)
4.55.1-2
4.24.1-2 4.25.1-6
4.26.1-5 4.27.1-6
does the introduction of disability into a character s life reliably prefigure his/her death, or do s/he tend to find a way to overcome her/his physical difference? Andrea, Rick, Allen Andrea: lost earlobe & facial scar fear of being a freak (3.116.3-6) Rick: breaks every finger in his right hand while beating Thomas (3.17). Difficulty closing hand, but determined to fire gun again (4.78.8) Allen: leg removed to save him from bite (4.49-52); Hershel ties off arteries w/ help of Axel s hair; Allen s eventual death (4.107.1) 4.74.1-8
what constitutes normal for those who have lived with the threat of zombies for a few months? EMOTIONAL LIFE fear Rick still startled by zombies presence worried about getting used to it (3.21.4) Lori as concerned about harm from humans as from zombies (4.31.2) Rick points out that everyone s dead (infected) already: We re living on borrowed time here (4.130.2-4). anger: Lori, of Carol: She doesn t seem to be taking it too well. But these days, who can really tell normal upset from even more upset on top of that? (4.82.1). laughter: Ricks wakes up after fight and cracks joke about dead people walking around wonders if he s losing it (4.114)
what constitutes normal for those who have lived with the threat of zombies for a few months? THE BASICS fundamentals: eating = canned food (3.30.2), bathroom = airtight freezer (3.30.6), clothing = orange jumpsuits (4.29-30) small talk: Lori complains that the old [q]uestions... just don t work anymore. Do you have kids? Where do your parents live? What does your husband do? How many brothers and sisters do you have? Sports, weather, work everything... They just don t work anymore (4.81.2-4). clichés: Lori notes, Before you would always hear live life like every day could be your last. As if that would make you live life to its fullest... (3.12.4) cursing ubiquitous: Carl tells Chris, You shouldn t cuss so much. I know you re not an all the way adult. Saying those swears isn t going to fool me (3.10.2). vocabulary: Rick tells inmates it was awhile before they could say zombies aloud with a straight face (3.25.5), and now they re differentiating between roamers and lurkers
what paths do our characters take in their pursuit of the comforts of physical intimacy? What traditional boundaries become permeable? the inmates: Axel, Thomas, Andrew & Dexter Chris & Julie: sex & death (.3.41.25) Carol: Tyreese (3.97.2-5, etc.), Lori (3.79), Rick (4.115-16) Carl & Sophia: Carl s rejection (3.4-6), then acceptance (3.98.1-7). Why? Maggie & Glen a rollercoaster: end of love (3.123.3-7), requires constant caring guy (4.53.6), need for sex (4.64-65), Hershel s acceptance (4.72.4) 3.41.25 Tyreese: permits Michonne (4.62-63)
do our characters grow accustomed enough with the prospect of imminent death that they cease to fear it? Dale & Andrea lack of emotion following death of Hershel s girls (3.80.1); life span now 6 months (3.80.4) Allen encourages sons to anticipate death to lessen its pain (3.86.1-4) Tyreese: Julie need no longer deal w/ this b.s. death preferable to this life (3.123.3-7) 3.48.1-4 Lori: uninterested in seeing Allen after leg removed: It s nothing I haven t seen before. Why bother? (4.59.4-5)
what attitude towards Christian faith does the novel implicitly adopt? 1.29.4-7
do the characters who openly declare faith and tend to pray seem like the most virtuous and selfless characters? Donna: her assumptions about Dale s unchristian behavior (1.98.5), Lori s allusion (1.98.6) to Luke 6:37-38: Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Otis: hard on Patricia, and racist (4.32.2-5), prays God will make his pain go away (4.57.1), upset w/ (black) Tyreese for yelling at him to help injured Allen (4.57.4-5) 4.57.1-5
does religious faith provide any of Kirkman s characters with comfort and confidence, or is such belief configured as useless (or worse)? Hershel operating on Carl: I ain t had a prayer answered in a good solid few months... so I figure we re about due for something good (2.74.6). Hershel s son Billy cruelly accuses Hershel of responsibility for sisters deaths (3.93.1-7); Hershel later hits Billy, referencing Exodus 20:12 about honoring parents, lest he go to Hell (3.119). Hershel tells Thomas he forgives him, that he ll let the Lord be his judge, but still wants to watch him get hanged (3.122.4-6). Later watches him get eaten by zombies (3.130) attitude about Maggie & Glenn, once hostile (2.113-14), now softens (4.72.4) 4.72.4-7 curses when upset (2.12.4), but upset w/ Billy s cussing (4.78.4)
character studies: women
Patricia: while comforting Lori, Rick notes that Patricia is either incredibly naïve, or stupid, that he doesn t think she d willingly hurt anyone (4.31.5). Which of these three possibilities appears most supported by the text, that Patricia is naïve, stupid, or malicious? 4.32.2-5 tries to rescue Thomas from being hung saying he s crazy, not evil; he responds by trying to kill her (3.124-27) she then helps Dexter in attempt to make Rick and others leave, but doesn t want them killed (4.5.2) wants new leadership committee to include Lori instead of Rick, but other women don t agree they want the men to protect them (4.120.2-5)
Michonne: is Michonne a total enigma, or does the narrative provide enough clues to unwrap the mystery wrapped tightly around her? badass w/ sword (4.4.1, 4.13.1, etc.) Rick: That woman s got to be tough as nails to last as long as she did alone out there (3.22.1) talks to self about liking new group (4.66.1-4), then denies it to Andrea (4.67-68) details of past life/family (4.81.1) comes on to Tyreese twice he doesn t really resist (4.61-63, 4.84-85) 4.13.1-4 Dale says Michonne appears fine w/ new leadership committee of 4 men (4.120.4)
Carol: does Carol s fragility and neediness appear to be more a function of the cataclysm or of her innate personality? 3.97.1-5 says Tyreese a better man than her husband ever was thinks Tyreese dead, kisses Carol (3.79.1-7) ecastatic w/ returned Tyreese (3.84.4), sexually intimate (3.97.2-5) anticipates danger of Michonne (4.34.6-7), attempts oral sex (4.61-63), breaks up w/ Tyreese (4.69-70) slits wrists (4.83.1) kisses Rick, says will keep secret (4.115-16)
3.79.2-7 4.15.1-2
character studies: men
Tyreese Rick, to Tyreese: You killed Chris and you might as well have killed Carol too (4.96.4)
Tyreese: Dexter tells Rick his group is crazy (3.85.8). Is this true? Does the violent behavior of either Tyreese or Rick deserve the label of insanity? Tyreese s repeat killing of Chris (3.43-48); smiles the next morning & says he s fine (3.51.3-5) Tyreese s approach to zombies in gym (3.63.1-5, 3.83.1-4) hits Rick hard when accused of suicidal Carol s death if she dies (4.87-95) admits killing Chris was one of the only things he s enjoyed in months (4.95.1-2) 3.47.7
Rick Dale, of Rick: Rick bounces back and forth between sickeningly optimistic and completely enraged (3.121.2).
Rick: does Rick know how to delegate responsibility? apologizes for fatigue: Allen notes everyone s exhausted (3.15.1) tells Lori he killed Hershel s girls by bringing them to the prison (3.92.1-2) Lori upset w/ decision to execute Thomas. Rick: Honey, listen to me. I m a cop I ve been trained to make decisions like this one....that s why everyone comes to me for advice and guidance (3.109.4). Hershel, after Rick shoots Allen: I could have you don t have to carry the weight of us all on your shoulders (4.111.1). 3.109.1-4 new committee: Dale, Hershel, Tyreese, & Rick (4.118-19)
Rick: at what points does Rick employ the concepts of truth & justice to rationalize his actions? 3.101.2-4 Rick: I don t think it s right to just leave [Hershel] miles away knowing we ve got plenty of room in here (3.34.3-5). Once thankful Hershel arrives: It was the right thing to do (3.40.5) of decision to execute Thomas: We have to do what s right to make sure he never kills again. Lori wants to break the cycle of killing (3.107.4-5). Lori tells stressed Carl he did the right thing in killing Shane before he killed anyone (3.113.3-5). Rick arrives and says that he did the right thing too (3.113.3-5)
Rick: at what points does Rick employ the concepts of truth & justice to rationalize his actions? ill-timed truths: to grieving Tyreese, calmly: you don t want her to be one of those things (3.44.3) withholds truth: tells everyone Chris & Julie killed each other (3.49.2) passive aggressive w/ zombie Shane: I had to set things right (3.64.3-5). Leaves the son of a bitch, w/ new hole in head, unburied (3.65.3) 4.103.1-4 ends justify the means: after fight w/ Tyreese: Everything I did everything I did for the good of this group. You can t say that. That makes me right (4.106.3)
3.24.2 3.38.8 drawn w/ a big head