(Re)Framing the Undead: Zombies as Disability Metaphors in Colson Whitehead’s Zone One and the Near-Future Apocalypse

The essay examines the intersection of disability and the representation of zombies in Colson Whitehead’s Zone One (2011) through the theoretical frameworks of disability studies. Beginning with an exploration of the biomedical implications of zombification and the ongoing pathologization of illness associated with zombies, and the trope’s origins in Haitian folklore and Voodoo rituals, the essay traces the evolution of zombies from their cultural roots to their contemporary depiction as symbols of terror, anxiety, and the unsettling ‘other’ within the apocalypse. The second section of the essay focuses on the portrayal of “skels”– physically impaired and mutilated zombies – in Zone One. This analysis reveals how the novel inscribes both models of disability onto the zombie body, which subsequently becomes a trope for societal attitudes toward disability. Ultimately, the essay demonstrates how zombies in post-apocalyptic fiction serve as metaphors for people with disabilities, encapsulating societal fears and complex emotions such as pity and repulsion toward non-normative bodies.