I am a D1 zombie movie fan. Name a zombie movie or show and I’ve probably seen it, loved it and given it five stars on Letterboxd. I’ve read the comic books, and as embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ve been to the fan conventions. However, there’s truly no show I love more (and watch more) than “The Walking Dead.”
I first fell in love with the show as it aired every week on AMC, and I typically do a rewatch every year. I suppose the reason why “The Walking Dead” resonates with me so much is because it pulls back the curtain on the instinctual side of the human psyche and begs the question:
“Who would you be if the world ended?”
One of the best examples of a character who answers this question is Daryl Dixon, the motorcycle-riding, crossbow-toting and rough-around-the-edges survivor.
Daryl Dixon begins his arc as just that.
Daryl, along with his even more rough-around-the-edges (and overtly racist) brother, Merle, begin the story as survivalists. They grew up abused and impoverished, already used to fending for themselves. The apocalypse is mostly just life as usual for them, but with a few zombies here and there. Daryl and Merle are certainly a product of their upbringing in rural Georgia. They grew up in a secluded environment, shaping their hyper-individualistic and often bigoted worldviews.
Before the Dixon brothers’ plot to rob a camp of fellow survivors can unfold, they are separated in Atlanta. Merle is off on his own, while Daryl is welcomed into the folds of the very same group he planned to steal from.
Quiet and mistrustful, Daryl is initially a loner, but soon becomes fiercely dedicated to the betterment of this group led by the main character, Rick Grimes, a moral family man and former sheriff. This group is comprised mostly of strangers from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and social classes, yet Daryl finds a sense of family and belonging that he never had before the apocalypse. After all, the end of the world strips humanity down to its most basic, fundamental level. Money, social status, gender or nationality become arbitrary when you’re fighting every day just to survive.
Daryl grows to realize that his “every man for himself” approach just doesn’t work anymore in this post-apocalyptic world.
“You can’t do things without people anymore, man,” Daryl said.
The Dixon brothers are finally reunited in the middle of the show’s third season. Daryl has changed, but Merle has not.
Daryl and Merle, both wandering the thick Georgia woods, hear a cry coming from the road. Daryl rushes to investigate while Marle reluctantly follows. They encounter a Spanish-speaking family who are vigorously fighting for their lives against an undead horde. While Merle spews out racial slurs and tries to leave them to save themselves, Daryl chooses to go out of his way and help the family, knowing that his inaction would be a death sentence for them. Merle attempts to break into the family’s car and take supplies as a form of “payment” for saving their lives, but Daryl won’t let him.
“You helped them people out of the goodness of your heart even though you might die doing it. Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught you?” Merle asks.
This question marks the height of Merle and Daryl’s ideological conflict, the point where audiences see how Daryl has been influenced by the people around him, how he makes the conscious choice to be compassionate and selfless despite the danger of the walkers.
Daryl is exactly the type of person who needs to survive in this world.
This is the true heart of “The Walking Dead”. It’s not just some gory horror show, but rather, a glimpse at what it really means to be human.
Daryl’s redemptive character arc greatly reminds me of a quote from another one of my favorite pieces of media, “This Is Water” by the novelist David Foster Wallace.
“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in [a] myriad [of] petty little unsexy ways, every day.”
Being human means choosing to show up for people even when it’s hard, trying to extend kindness and compassion without the expectation of anything in return. This is how we reflect our Creator. Sin nature can make us individualistic, ruthless and competitive, but things like money and status eventually fade away, just like they do in the apocalypse. When we make the conscious decision to be selfless and empathetic to others, that is humanity in its purest form. It’s what shines through the gore, the nastiness, the deprivation and the suffering. It’s what keeps life going.
If that is lost, then we are no better than the soulless undead.
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