Monsters - WRI 101

A collection from Fall 2018

Archives for September 2018

The parallels between sweepers and real soldiers in Zone One

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“Some of them were hard at work crafting the new language, and they came up with more than a few winners; the enemy they faced would not succumb to psychological warfare, but that didn’t mean that the principles needed to remain unutilized.” (Whitehead 99). In this sentence, the narrator states that even though the government’s change in language can’t be used to control the zombies, it can be used to control the surviving humans. The sentence reveals the priorities of the government in the book: capitalism. Instead of focusing on aiding the humans, going as far as ceasing to look for a cure, they use their resources and power to further control them. The government does not care so much as to reconstruct the world as it was and aid those who survived through the apocalypse or give them support for their PASD. Instead, it seeks to maintain and expand the realms of capitalism.They want to create a new kind of zombie; the consumer.

Whitehead uses the events from the book to parallel what is happening in the real world. Specifically, the government’s negligence when it comes to those who serve them. The sweepers mirror veterans in real life, they too suffer from a type of PTSD from violence they face or partake in, and in return are met with the bare minimum from their respective governments. They’re used as pawns to promote a rhetoric, in real life that is often blind patriotism, while in the book it is capitalism.  A daunting similarity, is the way in which people in the book and in real life, are drawn to those positions. They are promised a sense of purpose and told what they’re doing is for the greater good, but in the end are met with negligence.

The governments in both scenarios don’t really emphasize helping those who serve them, they just want to keep making money, and capitalize off people’s suffering. The U.S. military budget for 2019 is $716 billion (Stein), while an E1 Private in 2018 made $19,659.60‒excluding bonuses and allowances‒(Army Pay).

Screenshot of 2018 Army Pay Chart

There’s a blatant disparity in the numbers. In 2017, the state with the highest rate of enlistment was Georgia (Clark). According to the website Livability.com, the most affordable place to live in Georgia is Warner Robins, where the median income is $42,795, nowhere close to the military salary people receive (Burch). In an eerily similar way, sweepers are under compensated for their services. They are forced to spend nights in abandoned buildings on sleeping bags or in tents enclosed in glorified campgrounds, while the elites get to lounge in Buffalo pretending to help the world. Sweepers are not even allowed to touch or take from the abandoned buildings they spend hours clearing of zombies, no, they have to leave everything as is for the future tenants who will fuel the government’s capitalist endeavors.

 

Works Cited

“Army Pay Chart & Army Base Pay – Active Duty.” Goarmy.Com, http://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2018.

Burch, Bonnie. “The 6 Most Affordable Cities in Georgia.” Livability, 23 Jan. 2018, https://livability.com/ga/business/the-6-most-affordable-cities-in-georgia 

Clark, James. “These States Have The Highest (And Lowest) Enlistment Rates In America.” Task & Purpose, 27 June 2017, https://taskandpurpose.com/states-highest-lowest-enlistment-rates.

Stein, Jeff. “Analysis | U.S. Military Budget Inches Closer to $1 Trillion Mark, as Concerns over Federal Deficit Grow.” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/19/u-s-military-budget-inches-closer-to-1-trillion-mark-as-concerns-over-federal-deficit-grow/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2018.

Whitehead, Colson. Zone One: A Novel. 2012.

The use of pop culture in The Good House

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In many ways Tananarive Due’s The Good House uses a medley of elements, that on the surface seem to clash, but put into practice, come together to make a riveting story. One of these elements is her use of pop culture references, mostly music, to reveal the motives and internal thoughts of the characters in the novel. Specifically, her use of this technique in respect to Corey’s character, which reflects  not only his age, but also his identity.

One of Corey’s major struggles is finding a balance between who he is and who thinks people expect him to be. His way of speaking reflects his growing up in an affluent area, going to private school, and his mother’s way of raising him. As a result, his peers in Oakland called him “Urkel,” a reference to a character from the 90’s sitcom “Family Matters”  who was a stereotypical nerd and happened to be black. In retaliation, Corey changes his speech pattern to fit in and feel like he’s actually a part of them.

It’s interesting that Sean is the one who brings up those musicians which Due uses to show integral parts of Corey. In addition to his role as the messenger (who warns the town of the evils that harbor), he’s also the only person Corey feels like he can be himself around, after all no one would do witchcraft around a casual friend.

Among the list of musicians that Sean lists out to Corey, one of the band’s mentioned was “Arrested Development,” which made Afrocentric music that stemmed from American rap style at the time. The band being Afrocentric hints at the his African roots and the roots of the spirits that led him to his death. Another band mentioned that foretold Corey’s dabbling in magic, was his fascination with the Santeria aspect of the band “The Orishas.” Not only that, but in real life the band tackled identity, racism, and Afro-Cuban religion, which are all recurring themes that Corey faces throughout the book.

However, Corey’s favorite song “Don’t Believe the Hype” by Public Enemy is the pop culture piece that reveals most about him. The song describes the struggles of a black man who seeks to be taken seriously in the music industry; from people believing his work is unoriginal due to his race, to people stereotyping him as an angry black man. He avoids giving in, and displaying anger so that the media can’t impose stereotypes on him.

Similarly, Corey seeks to be taken seriously without sacrificing who he is, and at the same time being who people expect him to be. The conflict arises when people expect him to be two different ways: his mom wants him to reflect the image of an educated black man, and his friends in Oakland expect him to be “hard.”

 

Works Cited

Arrested Development | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links | AllMusic.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arrested-development-mn0000599732. Accessed 13

Sept. 2018.

Due, Tananarive. The Good House: A Novel. First Washington Square Press mass market edition,

Washington Square Press, 2006.

Orishas | Biography & History | AllMusic.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/orishas-mn0000481610/biography. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

Public Enemy – Don’t Believe the Hype. genius.com,

https://genius.com/Public-enemy-dont-believe-the-hype-lyrics. Accessed 13 Sept. 2018.

 

Exaggerated stereotypes of the marginalized compose the basic structure of monsters

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In Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Theses), one of his central theses states that one component of a monster is its depiction of that which is different (7). Meaning that we classify those who are different, whether it be culturally, racially, or economically, as monstrous. Sadly, in contemporary movies that display monsters, this still holds true. For example, historically Native Americans have been the victims of an ongoing slanderous campaign. There are no shortage of movies, particularly old western movies, in which directors paint Native Americans as dangerous, almost subhuman, lacking humanity, whose only characteristic is their affinity for being exceptional warriors. As seen in the movie The Last of the Mohicans (1992), the Huron tribe reflected the bloodthirsty and greedy stereotype. Although there is a good characterization of Native Americans, in the case of Chief Chingachgook and Uncas, I highly suspect it is because they hold close ties with “Hawkeye,” who they adopted into their tribe. Uncoincidentally, he is the hero and main character, and to no one’s surprise, a white man. Despite the fact that Magua, the principal “monster,” collaborates with the French, his ties to white men are superficial, and therefore a separate entity of wrongdoing. He is irredeemable of humanity because his interests do not directly benefit whiteness in any way. In contrast, Uncas and Chief Chingachgook’s actions directly helped the British and Hawkeye. The movie reflects general cultural attitudes in which anyone who does not fit the standards of masculinity and whiteness becomes warped and dehumanized on and off the screen.

Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeye and Eric Schweig as Uncas – The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

 

Works Cited

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. Monster Culture (Seven Theses). 1996. University of Minnesota Press.

Mann, Michael, director. The Last of the Mohicans (1992). 20th Century Fox, 1992.

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