Today in class, one group presented on the topic of zombies, colonialism, and popular culture.
Zombies were originally a Haitian folktale. Basically, if you were a slave you might be able to travel back to Africa and paradise with the help of Baron Samedi, the god of the cemetery, after your death. If you offended the Baron before you died, he would not allow you to go back to Africa, and you would become a zombie, a perfect slave.
If you are interested in the history of zombies and their transition into the zombies we know today, check out these articles:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie.htm
http://news.discovery.com/history/history-zombies-12-6-4.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/opinion/a-zombie-is-a-slave-forever.html
And now for a story:
There I was, minding my own business at the Writing Center with Corey and Paul, when three students walked in. Paul looked up at the students and asked: "Do you need help with a paper?"
The students just stood there, groaning. Confused, I did a double-take to discover that they were dressed up as zombies! How fun! Still, they must have come here for a reason.
"Do you need help with a paper?" I asked. More groans.
Well alright then. We all shrugged, and went back to our phones and laptops to check facebook for the 37th time that hour.
Then they ate Corey.
"OH NO. OH NO, ZOMBIES," I said.
"Is this like, a normal thing in America?" asked Paul. "In Norway we don't really have any zombies."
Paul and I killed the zombies with office chairs and dragged their bodies out into the hallway.
"So what do we do now?" asked Paul.
"You never took a zombie survival class in Norway? Geez, Paul."
I pulled out my phone and checked my email. WSU had issued an emergency warning, telling everyone to go to Beasley. So we did. Then the local police force killed all the zombies. Life returned to normal.
A few weeks later, Paul and I were sitting in the writing center. I stopped what I was doing, and looked up at Paul.
"Isn't Corey supposed to be here today?" I asked.
"He was eaten by zombies, remember?" said Paul.
"Oh yeah."
THE END.
So you mentioned in your earlier definition of zombies that if one was to offend Baron then they would be condemned as a zombie. I am curious after reading your story in what way did the zombies that you and Paul so courageously slayed offend Baron causing them to convert to a life of a zombie? Furthermore, I wonder where they were slaves prior to their time spent on the WSU campus, and how there presence came about? Was this the first on campus sighting?
ReplyDeleteNice story, I enjoyed the change of pace!
Well, as someone really handsome pointed out in class, George Romero changed the way we define zombies with his film "The Night of the Living Dead." He originally intended for the monsters in the movie to be ghouls, but his fans referred to them as zombies, and it stuck.
DeleteMy story is about Romero-style zombies, not Haitian zombies. Of course, it is clear that in a fight the Baron's zombies would totally beat Romero's zombies. The Baron's zombies are perfect slaves who will follow any order and serve any evil purpose. Romero's zombies are mindless creatures without leadership or purpose.
As for how the zombies came to exist, I suspect that some ambitious biology student was trying to create his own zombie powder in a lab on campus. One day when he was leaving the lab, he didn't wash his hands. Little did he know, that was the day he perfected his work! He went back to his dorm and unknowingly infected everyone in the building. They all died in their sleep and rose from the dead the next morning. That was the day that Paul and I became local heroes by avenging Corey's death.
I'm glad you clarified the type of zombies you were writing about, Caleb. How did the police kill the zombies?
ReplyDelete