Sacred & Profane in The Walking Dead (outside reading, Elizabeth White)

  I read Connor Pitetti’s journal article, “Uses of the End of the World: Apocalypse and Postapocalypse as Narrative Modes,” while doing some research for a personal project of mine. In it, Pitetti defines the concepts of “apocalypse” narratives versus “postapocalypse” narratives in science fiction books and film. The definition of apocalypse has biblical roots, but beyond an etymological connection to our course, it got me thinking about the idea of the sacred and profane order in post apocalyptic film. Pitetti defines apocalypse as a story defined by a set beginning and end. It frames history as a clearly defined set of events and any world that may be created after an apocalypse is distinctly new and different from the one that came before. Post-apocalyptic narratives, on the other hand, are stories of after the end of the world where despite whatever dramatic changes it underwent, certain truths of the prior society still remain. It is less clean cut than the true, biblical “apocalypse.” The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic narrative. The world has ended, but some humans remain and the show depicts them caring for each other, hurting each other, and persevering in spite of impossible suffering. I have only seen the first few seasons of The Walking Dead, so that is all I will be discussing. 

I believe that The Walking Dead uses the sacred and profane similarly to how Apocalypse Now did. In the post-apocalypse, peace is sacred and other people are profane. In one season of the show, the characters find safety on a farm. The idyllic pastoral scenery of the rural area is rarely interrupted by walkers or other people. It is a sacred space that Hershel, the owner of the farm, has worked hard to maintain. However, he is unable to stop the walkers from destroying their farm, because he is unwilling to kill them. The character of Shane, who has been a mostly helpful side character up to this point in the story, becomes one of the things interrupting the sacred order of the farm life. He opens a shed full of walkers to expose Hershel’s lies and they overrun the farm. The Walking Dead is a cyclical story. Over and over again the characters make a home for themselves, run into people who want to take that home, and then that home is destroyed. There is little room for consistent peace in the post-apocalyptic narrative. 


Another similar version of the sacred and profane orders in The Walking Dead could be the character’s emotional states throughout the show. Rick is constantly struggling with what it means to keep his humanity in this new age. How far is too far to protect the people you love? Can you be a good person once you commit acts of unspeakable rage and violence against others? In the show, the worst parts of humanity become a profane force in the world. There is not enough society or religion left to keep out the violence, bloodshed, and anger. After the apocalypse, there is no longer an upper force dictating what is good and what is bad, so the character’s are in a constant inner struggle to police these sacred and profane forces within themselves. 


Connor Pitetti. “Uses of the End of the World: Apocalypse and Postapocalypse as Narrative Modes.” Science Fiction Studies 44, no. 3 (2017): 437–54. https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.44.3.0437.

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