Colson Whitehead has written an extremely compelling post-apocalyptic science fiction novel centered around the zombie archetype. In Zone One, he skillfully uses the zombie model to create mediocrity – a population of dependent thinkers who accept, without question, a system of existence that is not favorable to them. In doing so, Whitehead transforms the undead into symbolism to critique the classism of capitalism and the mindsets that contribute to the failure to realize its potential. Whitehead writes Mark Spitz as a character who embodies the irony of using mediocrity as a refuge from the burden of pursuing success to illustrate that to be mediocre is to affirm mediocrity; moreover, mediocrity inherently stifles ambition and hinders success, and therein lies the crux of Whitehead's irony and the cornerstone of his critique of capitalist society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The text ultimately defines success as a more or less unnecessary burden imposed on the multitude. This is strongly reminiscent of the Marxist concept of false consciousness, which is the sociological result of capitalism culturally conditioning people's minds to accept a system that disadvantages them. Accepting this system without questioning it and without protesting is “accepting it as the logical way things are” for the sole reason that this is the capitalist ideology into which people have been challenged (Dobie 94 ). This concept of false consciousness is an integral part of interpellation, which Louis Althusser, a leading figure in 20th century Marxism, defined simply as the manipulation of the working class “to accept the ideology of the dominant class” (Dobie 88). . This is what Whitehead uses the horde of skels to symbolize. Whitehead recounts a scene at the end of “Sunday,” the first part of the novel, where Central Park in Manhattan is overrun by people infected with the plague. This is Spitz's first opportunity to see Central Park from such an aerial perspective, and he is dismayed to study how the undead move. The way Whitehead chooses to describe this scene is loaded with meaning: they did not stop to appreciate the landscape, these dead visitors; they wandered across the grass and paths without aim or direction, first moving in this direction and then wandering in another direction until, distracted by nothing in particular, they readjusted their idiotic course. (Whitehead 91) This description means that the mindless proletariat (as opposed to the controlling bourgeoisie) search aimlessly without knowing what they are seeking because success is defined so subjectively that no one knows how to pursue it, much less how to achieve it. 'reach. presents itself in the novel, at least in Spitz's eyes, as a virtue. There are many situations in which the protagonist thinks or talks about mediocrity as a way to protect a comfort zone. The text explains that Mark Spitz's goal in life or, as he calls it, "the business of existence" is simply to suffer as little as possible, as opposed to the much more idealistic goal of enjoying as much as possible. (Whitehead 106). He considers minimizing consequences in life to be paramount, nothing more, and he sees the plague as merely a challenge to this endgame for which he has trained all his life. In other words, he has considerable practice and familiarity with mediocrity. This establishes Spitz's perspective of success as one in which success is simply about keeping life uneventful. One of the most omnipresent themes in..