Having Kids in the Zombie Apocalypse: Not for the Faint of Heart
The Walking Dead.
Need more be said. It plays as the top-rated show on television, even though the broadcast networks won’t admit it. Millions upon millions of followers. Story lines that leave you guessing episode after episode, season after season.
Characters so real they draw you in and break your heart with their humanness.
The stories represent the best and worst of humanity. They carry with them lessons of how we should treat each other, even when the worst happens. But they also teach us to fear… fear the unknown.
Like parenthood…
The Walking Dead is no stranger to kids being on the show. Throughout the seasons, we have watched Carl go from an uncertain child hiding behind his mother for protection (almost) to becoming a warrior against both the dead and the living. His childhood went away with the arrival of the virus. Especially when he had to do the unthinkable: re-kill his own mother after her death following the birth of her second child.
One might wonder if having a baby presents as a wise idea when flesh demanding creatures roam the earth, attracted by the smallest of sounds. It seems a ludicrous idea to even attempt to build a family, to fall in love, to create new life. And yet Maggie and Glenn got married. And now, the recently widowed Maggie expects their first and only child.
Reality sets in…
Are they being naïve in this topsy-turvy world that makes no sense at all? But maybe it makes perfect sense. Maybe, as allegory for real life, The Walking Dead offers a message that it never is going to be the perfect time to become a parent. Basically, there will always be Zombies at the door. There will always be a battle to fight of some kind – so find the happiness you can in the moments you can.
And sometimes, you will lose the battle. The Walking Dead has spared no one from the chance of death, or re-death as the case may be. The dangers of the world are ever present in a world with Zombies, much like in the real world.
In the end, it isn’t too surprising that our characters want to experience all the best things in life – including parenthood. But those Zombies don’t make it any easier, that’s for sure.
As in real life, at some point our characters on The Walking Dead have to trust that their kids will learn the skills they need to survive. If not, they will go by way of the Zombie.
Featured image via IMDB.
