Fear the Walking Dead: How children respond to walkers on both shows
By Susie Graham
On Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead we’ve seen an interesting reaction to the infected by some of the children. The idea of a zombie would be pretty confusing to a child.
The dead coming back to life and eating the living is confusing enough for adults to grasp, it must be even more difficult for children. There are so many aspects of zombies and life with the zombies that are scary, lonely, hopeless, and sad. Those are quite a few emotions to be represented by one undead body, especially one that may look like your relative.
Paradox is everywhere for children. They are unaware that these things have affected their entire future, unaware of the future they have lost. But the adults around them are acutely aware of the loss so they feel the loss through the energy of their parents.
The children still have the desire to play and have the need to be comforted by the adults who are busy and don’t always want to play or draw or have the right words to comfort them when they are dealing with the fear, the unknown, and the grief of this new world themselves.
Children still have curiosity and the desire to become independent in a time when parents have an even bigger need to be protective and want to control their children and keep them safe, even teenagers like Chris.
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One of the most interesting things with the children and the walkers that has been explored a few times is the desire to connect with them yet keep them at a safe distance, almost like a walker zoo. Lizzie, of course, was an extreme and didn’t recognize their danger or their essence.
Most of the children recognize that the walkers are dangerous and are appropriately afraid of them, just as children are afraid of lions, and tigers and bears. But behind the safety of a fence, they can wave at them or give them toys.
Harry and Willa brought the infected games. Lizzie, Mika, Luke and Molly gave the walkers at the prison fence names and stood close to them waving at them. The children like being able to get close to what scares them in a safe way to watch them and face the fear.
Adults eventually find a way to face the fear by killing the walkers or at least facing what the walkers have done to civilization. Breaking free of denial. Kids face it by waving at them through chain link fences. Perhaps if Alexandria had some windows in the walls for little Sam to see the walkers, instead of just imagine them, he’d still be alive.