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Ethical Catechism and "The Walking Dead"

Abstract The setting, exploration, and adaptation of

ethical scenarios are processes which lie at the heart of

ethical debate. While they are used by philosophers as

a means of illustrating key concepts, the conflicts around

which they are positioned are charged with a powerful

dramatic currency that has been frequently explored and

exploited across allforms of nanative media. When these

scenarios are set against a post-apocalyptic backdrop the

usual considerations that inform moral maxims are inevita-

bly and intentionally re-orientated. This paper will focus on

the American TV drama series The Walking Dead (2010)

which takes place after a zombie apocalypse and follows a

small band of 'survivors' as they navigate their way across

Atlanta in search of sanctuary. The ethical dilemmas that

the group find themselves in inform the nanative of each

(and oftentimes consecutive) episodes. Kant's Categorical

and Hypothetical lmperatives, Fletche/s Stfuatrbn Ethrcs,

and Mills' Wilitaianism are dramatically rendered as the

characters attempt to continually reconcile their ethical

behaviour with their personal survival and the protection

of the group. The program could be described as 'ethics

Robert Dean

University of Glamorgan, Cardiff, UK

Email: [email protected]

EKPHRASIS,22012

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pp. 87-95

Robert DEAN

for the masses'. From this perspective, the show provides

an accessible framework through which the audience en-

gages in both intemal and orated informal ethical debate

as they respond to the different arguments, attitudes, and

actions presented. However, while it would seem that the

encouragement of such reflection is a positive application

of popular entertainment this paper will also consider the

way in which the grammar and conventions of television

are used to guide the viewe/s ethical conclusions.

Keywords: zombie, apocalypse, television, Situation

Ethics, Utilitarianism, Hulme, Robinsonade.

On Halloween evening 20L0 theAmerican cable channel AMC broad-casted the first episode of 'The WalkingDead.'The narrative (based on the com-ic book series after which it is named)takes place after a zombie apocalypseand follows a small band of 'survivors'as they navigate their way across Atlantain search of sanctuary. In the very firstscene, before the opening credits have

rolled, the audience witresses a sheriffsurveying what initially appears to be

the scene of a major road accident. \l[hilstpicking his way through the cars he stum-

bles across a little girl only to discoverthat she is a zombie (or to use the show's

terminology'a walker'). As the zombie

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child drarges towards him the sheriff ini-tially backs away before drawing his ColtMagnum revolver and shooting her be-tween the eyes. The impact of the shotspatters blood across the road and sendsthe little girl and her teddy bear tumblingto the ground. At this point the themetune begins and the opening credits role.

On one level the function of this open-ing scene is to provide a hook with whichto snare audience's interest. Presentingthis scene without providing any pro-logue or prior exposition will raise ques-tions in the viewer's mind which they canonly find answers to if they keep watch-ing. Indeed, this is the central principleupon which the structure and success ofmost television series' depend. However,in this example there is another dimen-sion which both contributes to and ex-pands the scene's significance.

The audience is presented with two fa-miliar iconic archetypes: a physical rep-resentation of justice and protection em-bodied by the county sheriff with hisStetsory badge, and magnum, followedby the appearance of a lost little girl com-plete with rabbit slippers and teddybear,a presence that lyould usually symbol-ize purity and innocence. In most sce-

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narios when such characters share screentime the Sherriff assumes the role of herothrough his endeavors to rescue the lit-tle girl. But in'The Walking Dead' theactions of the characters are subverted.The little girl is not under threat, she isthe threat.In this post-apocalyptic land-scape the symbol of innocence and puri-ty is mutilated and mutated into a mon-ster, while the would-be rescuer becomes

her prey and ultimately her executioner.The beginning of the series clearly sig-

nals that in this storyworld the'composi-tional rules'which usually govern charac-ter behaviour and narrative developmentno longer apply.Since the evolution andpopularization of melodrama, a genrewith which this programme shares manyconventions, these'compositional rules'have been frequently repeated and con-solidated. As Todorov identified in hispaper'Structural Analysis of Narrative'(L969,75) such narratives can usually bebroken down into three constituent andconsecutive phases: equilibrium estab-lished, equilibrium disrupted, and equi-librium reinstated. Brooks went on to ob-serve that plays from the melodramat-ic genre 'typically open with a presenta-tion of virtue and innocence' (1976,29\.lncontrast,'The Walking Dead' dismantlesany sense of equilibrium by transformingthe customary symbol of virtue and in-nocence into a flesh eating zombie whichthe hero guns down in the opening scene.

The conventional manner in whichcharacter types and events are arrangedalso feeds into a central tenet and char-acteristic of melodrama that is formed

Ethical Catechism and " the W alking D ead"

around a clear moral and ethical frame-work. Put in its simplest form, a course

of action that is dutiful, faithfuL and vir-tuous will be rewarded while cowardly,sacrilegious, and vicious behavior willbe punished. Like the other conventions,the stability of this manichean formula isstretched to breaking point by the ethi-cal challenges characters face when navi-gating the post-apocalyptic landscape. Bythe end of the first series the group of sur-vivors have debated questions of wheth-er to risk the lives of the many in order tosave the lives of a few. They have been re-

quired to restrain, desert or execute fam-ily members and others from within theirsmall community. In additiory the epi-sodes have tackled other more domes-tic and practical moral questions such as

the point at which to intervene in mari-tal affairs, the sharing of resources, andthe rights and wrongs of looting. Froman ethical perspective these storylinesand the actions they present have the ef-

fect of re-calibrating the moral compass

for a post-apocalyptic age. Like charac-

ters trapped in a dystopian world with-in this endgame environment 'the pro-tagonist's mental universe is tumed up-side down as he is compelled to redefineall the concepts through which he lives'(Rose 198L:L67).

In order to illustrate the manner inwhich this is achieved and highlight thetype of issues that are raised in the pro-gramme this paper will focus on 4 ethi-cal dilemmas that occur in the first epi-sode of the second series. These examples

and the moral questions they raise occur

within the space of forty minutes, a fre- ,

quency which is consistently maintainedthroughout most of the series.

Eight minutes into the episode the mo-tor home, a vehicle that is essentially themain wagon of the convoy, breaks downon a highway of stationary cars many ofwhich contain the corpses of their own-ers. The driver (a character called Dale)initially assumes this is going to be a sig-nificant problem and prevent them fromreaching the sanctuary they hope to findat Fort Benning. However, he soon realis-es his mistake and is reminded of the factthat there are spare parts all around him:

Shane: You can't find a radiator hose

here?

Indeed as Daryl points out while he

roots around in an open boot:Daryl: There's a whole bunch of stuff

we could find.While the rest of the group move in

to salvage what they can the hero's wifeLori raises an objection.

Lori: This is a graveyard. (Cut to the

others faces) I don't know how I feel aboutthis.

Lori's comments align the groups'keenness to collect resources with themoral implications of scavengrng in agraveyard. However, after a momentarypause the objection is wholly disregardedand Shane instructs:

Shane: C'mon y'all just look aroundgather what you can.

In this fairly straightforward examplethe audience is presented with a dramaticenactrnent of what Hume refers to as 'ex-treme necessity' in his treatise on morals:

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Suppose a society [was] to fall into suchwant of all common necessaries, that theutmost frugality and industry cannotpreserve the greatest number from per-ishing and the whole from extreme suf-ferance [...] is it a crime, after a ship-wreck, to seize whatever means or in-strument of safety one can lay hold of,without regard to former limitationsof property [...] \Alhere the society isready to perish from extreme necessi-

ty, no greater evil can be dreaded fromviolence and injustice; and every manmay now provide for himself by all themeans, which prudence can dictate, orhumanity permit. (Hume, 1775, 22-3)

In this short paragraph Hume setsout the ethical limits of justice in rela-tion to property rights and illustrateshis point with the analogy of ship-wreck survivors; a hypothetical scenar-io which reflects the period in whichhe was writing. The possibility of be-ing shipwrecked was a valid real worldconcem in a pre-aviation age of wood-en boats and oceanic trade routes, par-ticular for an island nation with colonialaspirations. However, the reference alsomakes a connection with popular fictionand the literary genre that would be-come known as'Robinsonade'1 follow-ing the 18ft Century publication thatpopularised survival fiction - Defoe'sRobinson Crusoe (1719). Similarly, in'The Walking Dead' the audience arepresented with a survival situationbased around a popular subject of con-temporary culture and it in this contextthat the potential tension between pru-dence and humanity is explored.

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The manner in which Lori's objec-tion is dealt also warrants consideration.Throughout the series most dilemmaswith an ethical dimension are debatedby the group before any action is taken.On this occasion thougtU the opportunityfor such discussion is quickly and silentlysnubbed. Lori's concem is not given anyrecognition and after a few shots of var-ious characters looking a little awkwardthe group disperse to search for supplies.As suctu their combined responses sup-port the Humean principle of 'extremenecessity' and confirm that the moral con-cem Lori raises is no longer applicable inthe context of the environment and situa-tion presented.

As the group scavenge what they can,

a nomadic herd of 'walkers' appear onthe road. Most of the characters man-age to hide under cars but in the confu,sion two mothers (Lori and Carol) areseparated from their children (Carl andSophia). \A/hile the walkers pass by inch-es away from the children's hiding plac-

Ethical Catechism nnd " the W alking D e nd"

es their parents can only watch in horri-fied silence as any noise would alert theherd and place the entire group in jeop-ardy. Suddenly, a walker from the backof the pack stumbles across Sophia's hid-ing place and starts to crawl under the carafter her. Seeing her little girl in mortaldanger proves too much for Carol to bearand she tries to cry out. Lori quickly re-sponds by forcibly restraining Carol andmuffling her cries thereby protecting therest of the group.

On this occasion the programme pres-ents a dramatic re-interpretation of oneof the most well-known scenarios associ-

ated with ethical debate. In Fletcher's re-ligious take on utilitarianism'SituationEthics: The New Morality' (1966) the au-thor poises the following question:

In the l8th century along the Boone

Trail, the following two scenarios tookplace:

a) Scottish womim saw that her sucklingbaby, ill, and crying, was betrayingher and her other three children, andthe whole company to the Indians.But she clung to her child, and theywere caught and killed.

b) Negro woman, seeing how her cryingbaby endangered another trail party,killed it with her own hands, to keepsilence and reach the fort.

\ /hich wom.u:r made the right deci-sion? (Fletch er, 1966, 125)

Although the situation Fletcher de-scribes and the scene featured in 'TheWalking Dead' are not identical, partic-ularly as the latter doesn't not involve amother committing infanticide, other as-

pects bear clear similarities. The wagontrain is updated to a convoy of motor ve-hicles, the Indians are replaced by a no-madic herd of zombies, and in both cases

their destination is a military fort. In the21"t century adaptation, Carol assumesthe role of the Scottish women whose nat-ural instinct and matemal love promptsher to disregard the safety of the group,while Lori acts in defence of the group byremaining silent and stifling the screamsof her distressed counterpart. However,whereas the extract from Fletcher's textfinishes with a questiory the televisualrendering of this comparable situationalso carries a semantic charge generatedthrough the sum of its component parts.

From this perspective, it is equallysignificant that Carol is a minor characterfrom a lower class who is generally por-trayed as being subservient and overlyemotional. In comparisory Lori is the he-ro's wife, has a middle class background,and for the most part displays courageand strength of character. Indeed, theprevious episodes have clearly estab-lished Lori as the main female protago-nist and most influential spokespersonfor her gender. These factors inevitablyalter how the audience read and inter-pret the scene. Carol's behaviour, which

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could have been portrayed as an entire-

ly understandable submission to'naturallaw', is presented as a dangerous weak-ness which a stronger, rational, and more

important character has to forcibly re-

strain. Therefore the deliberation Fletcher

invites his readers to engage in is skewed

in favour of a utilitarian act which putsthe needs of the many over the needs ofthe few. (A somewhat ironic reverse ofthe possible bias Fletcher attempted toachieve with his use of race.)

As the scene continues Sophia es-

capes pursued by a Walker and althoughRick attempts to rescue her he loses herin the surrounding woods. The result-ing search for Sophia is a storyline that is

maintained throughout subsequent epi-sodes as the survivors split up into small-

er groups in an attempt to find the miss-

ing child. In this episode, after the initialattempt to track Sophia proves unsuccess-

fuL the following day the group begin a

more extensive search while Dale and

T-Dog remain on the road to guard base

camp. Dale assumes his usual positionon top of the motor home armed with hisrifle and binoculars, thereby promptingT-Dog to question his priorities:

T-Dog: Air/t you supposed to be fixingthat radiator? lltrhat if the others come

back with Sophia and Rick wants tomove on right away?

Dale reveals that he actually fixed the

RV the day before, but has been pretend-

ing that the job is proving difficult. Hisjustification for purposefully deceivingthe rest of the group, or tricking them

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with a'pantomime' as he puts it is spe-

cifically phrased as a direct opposition to

utilitarian ethics:

Dale: I'm just guarding against the

worst. Sooner or later, if she's not found,

people will start doing maths. I want to

hold off the needs of the many versus

the needs of the few arguments for as

long as I can.

With this statement the character

counters Mill's principles of utility and

equality and positively asserts a moral

position which values the life of an inno-

cent child over the safety of the group and

the immorality of deceit. Such is Dale's

confidence in the intrinsic goodness of his

moral rationale that he believes himself

to be justified in depriving the group oftheir right to choose whether they shouldcontinue to their intended destination orcarry on searching. Indeed, Dale's decep-

tion is by his own admission a tactic de-

signed to avoid even discussing the issue

in case a less compassionate decision is

arrived at through democratic debate.

Once again the significance of the

character's behaviour cannot be divorcedfrom the maru:ter in which the scene is

presented. In this instance religious sub-

text drips from the mise-en-scene. An

Ethical Catechism and " the W nlking D ead"

old man with a white beard guardingover everyone from his elevated position(which in this shot appears to be literal-ly in the sky) makes decisions on what isright and wrong without consulting thoseit affects. Furthermore, this is not the firsttime the character has'played god'.

In the previous episode after learningthat there is no rescue or, respite fromtheir precarious existence, the group ispresented with the choice between reas-

signing themselves to a continued strug-gle through the post-apocalyptic wilder-ness or taking the option of an instantpainless death by remaining in abuild-ing set to self destruct. Most of the groupchoose life, but two characters (Jacqui andAndrea) decide to stay. Andrea's decisionprompts Dale to emotionally blackmailher with his own death, telling her: "ifyou're staying I stay". Dale's tactic worksand in true melodramatic fashion the twoof them only just make it out of the build-ing before it explodes.

ln the episode that follows (after hav-ing had her own gruesome run in witha walker that strayed from the herd)Andrea confronts Dale and responds tohis expectation of gratitude with the fol-lowing diatribe:

Andrea: Gratitudell wanted to die myway! Not tom apart by drooling freaks.

That was my droice. You took that away

from me Dale.

Dale: But...

Andrea: But you know better. All Iwanted after my sister died was to get

out of this endless horrific nightmarewe live everyday. I wasn t hurting any-

one else. You took my choice away Dale.

And you want gratitude!Dale: I don't know what to say.

Andrea: There is nothing to say. I'm notyour little girl. I'm not your wife. AndI'm sure as hell not your problem. That's

all there is to say."

The moral composition of this scene

is essentially a dramatic depiction of op-posing ethical perspectives. One the onehand there is the benevolent Fletcherianhero acting out of love for his fellowsurvivors and, on the other, there is theHumean heroine demanding her egalitar-ian right to choose. Although Hulme ar-ticulates his conclusion on the subject ofsuicide in a more scholarly manner andformat the principle remains the same:

That Suicide may often be consistent

with interest and with our duty to our-

seloes,no one can question... misfortunemay render life a burderu and make itworse even than annihilation. (Hume,

1783,10)

The post-apocalyptic environmentcoupled with the ever present threat of be-ing eaten alive certainly provides a potenthypothetical situation that takes the no-tion of misfortune to its extreme. Indeed,it is better encapsulated by Hume's earli-er reference in the essay to being'hunt-ed by pain and misery' (Hume, 1783,13).

The interpretation of 'The WalkingDead' put forward in this paper presents

the programme as a platform on whichfundamental ethical questions are dra-matised for mass consumption. From thisperspective, the show provides an acces-

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sible framework through which the audi-ence engages in both intemal and oratedinformal ethical debate as they respondto the different arguments, attitudes, andactions presented. It is also apparent thatthe medium itself resists impartiality as

the grammar and conventions of televi-sion drama combine additional aestheticfactors and narratological developmentswhich inevitably guide the viewer's eth-ical conclusions. However, the overarch-ing backdrop of a zombie apocalypseagainst which the events are acted outalso provides an opportunity for the typeof dramatic iconoclasm seen in the open-ing scene of the series, in which firmly es-

tablished character types and anticipatedbehaviour pattems are inverted.

The series seems to relish in setting upscenarios that initially conform to audi-ence expectations before dramatically re-versing them. Indeed, the scene whereDale benevolently sets out his non-utili-tarian position is intercut with a scene inwhich Sophia's would be rescuers hearthe sound of church bells ringing. Asthe characters' search for the source theyspeculate that whoever's is ringing thebells may be with Sophia and trying tosummon the group, or that it may evenbe Sophia ringing them herself. The over-riding implication of such a narrative de-velopment is as unavoidable as Dale'ssermon from the roof: a little girl lost inthe wilderness finds sanctuary and hermeans of deliverance in a'house of God'.However, the group arrive to find thechurch populated by walkers with a zom-bie priest stood at the altar. After execut-ing the congregation (and spilling a good

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deal of blood on consecrated ground inthe process) the bells b"g. to ring agarLseemingly in response to Daryl's infor-mal prayer; "'Yo J.C., are you taking re-quests?" The group rush outside onlyto discover that the sound which sum-moned them is actually a looped record-ing on a timer.

This ironic and nihilistic punch-linedashes the audiences' and characters'hopes for a mother and child reuniorywhilst simultaneously exposing the inad-equacy of conventional audience expec-

tations learnt through melodramatic nar-ratives with their roots in judeo-christianideology. Against the apocalyptic back-drop religion and its trappings has lost itsmetaphysical value. The bell ringer sum-moning the faithful to prayer is reducedto a mechanical recording, the church ismerely another building that needs to be

cleared of walkers, and the priest is noth-ing but a zombie in ecclesiastic clothing.Thus, while God may not be dead, he iscertainly absent. This idea is reinforced inmuch the same way at the end of the ep-isode when Rick's prayer for'a sign' ap-

pears to be granted in the form of a wilddeer that appears in a partingbetween the

trees. As Rick and Shane watch in won-derment Carl (Rick's son) slowly movestowards the animal to touch it. However,the miracle quickly reverts to the diabol-ical when an unseen hunter shoots thedeer and the bullet hits Carl.

In the 2004 the Sears List of Subject

Headings (a publication used for li-brary classification) listed apocalypticfantasies within the Robinsonade fic-tion category. However/ compared to

Ethical Cateclrism and " the W alking D e ad"

Robinsonade fiction in which the disas-

ters and survival situations they pro-

voke are relatively localised, when the

catalytic event is apocalyptic the conso-

lation of moral principles with survivaland necessity is stretched to its farthestpoint. Furthermorg unlike the few can-

nibals Crusoe and Friday tried their best

to avoid, the survivors feafured in'TheWalking Dead'have a continent of flesh

eating zombies to contend with. In es-

sence the apocalyptic context takes the"what if" basis of hypothetical ethical

questions and places t}:lem'in extremis.'

Normal distinctions between right and

wrong are blurred and in this grave new

world heroes act like villains, the deus-

ex-machina fails to launch, and the social

contract is open for amendments.

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References

Bnoors, P. The Melodramatic Imagination: Balzac, Henry James, Melodrama and the Mode ofExcess. Yale University Press, 1976.

FrsrcHsn, J. Situation Ethics: The New Morality. Westminster John Knox Press, 1966.

HrrNrs, D. (1775) An Enquiry Concerning the Principles Of Morals. Hackett Publishing, 1983.

HrrNrs, D. (1783) On Suicide. Penguin Books, 2005.

Mrrrsn, J. (ed.) Sears List of Subject Headings. The H. W. Wilson Co.,2004.

Ross, M. Alien Encounters: Anatomy of Science Fiction. Harvard University Press, 1981.

Tooonov, T. & WsrNsrsrN, A. Structural Analysis of Narrative. NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction,t969,3 (1), pp. 70-6.


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