Zombies – Myth or any truths?
A Zombie is a mythical creature brought into the world by the imagination of an 18 year old girl. The first publication of the story was made anonymous, the second with her name – Mary Shelley. I am of course talking about the classic – “Frankenstein.” It was made popular by movies like “Night of the Living Dead” and continues to ‘live’ every Halloween as one of the most favoured costumes.
In Mary Shelley’s novel the monster is depicted as larger than humans and of massive strength. Though initially it lacks human nature, it observes from the humans and learns. It also develops emotions causing it to feel pain and wreck havoc as revenge for being created and neglected, needing companionship and so requesting a female counterpart to be created by the scientist, etc. The monster in the story does not have a name. Contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein is the name of the scientist who created the monster.
Zombies
The “Night of the Living Dead” and other popular movies of Hollywood have presented the audience with a new angle to the nature of a Zombie. According to these stories, the Zombies are the dead who have risen. They are characterised by red eyes, rotting flesh and waking up from graveyards, with an insatiable hunger for human brain and flesh. They have blood stains from previous ‘meals’ and walk in a trance like fashion. They are devoid of any mental thoughts or emotion. The only similar trait to Mary Shelly’s monster is the massive strength the Hollywood Zombie possesses. They cannot be killed by usual methods such as a gun shot, etc.
Zombies are also popular in the Voodoo traditions of Haiti. These zombies are dead people whose soul has been held by a sorcerer. They obey the sorcerer’s commands and act accordingly. Thus Zombies have been different in different time periods and locales.
Thus to bring together the common properties of the Zombie from different myths that have arisen over the years, would be to mention its superhuman qualities. Here I raise the question of creating a zombie. Is it possible? No I am not talking about putting on make-up and dressing as a zombie for the night at Halloween but about creating a monster just like the scientist Frankenstein. Science has advanced in leaps and bounds in the past few years. We see healing medicines being created on one side while war and other methods of destruction are being created on the other. The thought of bringing back a loved one from the dead may seem desirable but none know of the consequences. Science is yet to discover a means to bring the extinct back to life, to focus more on creation than destruction. For now, I don’t think it is possible to create a monster like how Mary Shelly’s scientist did but in our quest for knowledge and power, we are becoming a population which might have the same feelings of hate, pain and revenge.
//Bruce
