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Kelsey Kacher The Heroic Gothic and World War Z: A New Subgenre for the Gothic Novel ! It seems to be the nature of the supernatural and the Gothic to isolate individuals. Gothic

literature is replete with examples of people and characters being alienated from others in the story, singling them out and usually endangering them while also disconnecting them from societal morals and practices. Without allowing other minds to correct and expand ones own ideas, any isolation can lead to provincial, dangerous, and even immoral results. A poignant example is in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when Dr. Jekyll clearly isolates himself from society, though challenged by colleagues that his ideas were dangerous and out of his league. Ignoring this, he locks himself away to make his evil thoughts into realitywhich they become. This, of course, leads to his being overcome by the evil and eventually destroyed by it, mentally and physically. Dr. Jekyll is not the only character in literature to meet this fate as a result of alienation. In books and lms alike there are characters who willingly isolate themselves from societyin fact, this seems to be a common element in most Gothic literature. It is in being alone that supernatural powers begin to take over in any ghost story; it is in anguished loneliness that villains usually come up with their most terrible plans. In repeated examples of the Gothic, it is quickly apparent that ones alienation serves as the main stimulus for any evil objective. Yet while isolation is a commonly recognized and essential device in Gothic literature, it seems to address only half of the story, half of the characters, and half of the problem. The Gothic villain is indeed isolated, but critics seem to overlook the forces that are ghting against this eviland that drive the novel forward, instead focusing solely on the

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alienated individual of the Gothic. Thomas Schmid conrms this sole focus of isolation in developing the Gothic novel, declaring: The potentially chilling aspects of isolation have long been recognized as central motifs in the Gothic novelistic tradition . . . . Isolated physical settings prisons, dungeons, monastic cloisters, remote castles, secret laboratorieshave of course played a frequent role in creating the atmosphere of numerous Gothic novels and in sustaining their plots by allowing the Gothic villain a convenient, if temporary, freedom from detection (21). Gothic isolation not only develops tone, but also provides the villain the secrecy of their own plans and evil-doing. James M. Keech posits that repercussions of isolation in the Gothic story principally lie in one character or agency, the hero-villain or the Inquisition, whose essence is unrestrained power or force or passion; They are also powers either partially or totally perverted, even if innocent of conscious evil intent . . . . Only evil or misfortune comes from the exercise of these extraordinary powers, for some sort of moral corruption is at their core (43). Clearly, as characters are alienated from their surroundings, evil seems to be naturally engendered, and Keech assures us that this is one of the ultimate Gothic devices that drives a story forward. However, in Gothic stories there is often an opposing side to the isolated character or agency which the critical conversation seems to overlook because of its emphasis on isolationism. This opposing side is usually a group of people banded together, creating an opposite but equally essential element commonly found in Gothic literatureso common, in fact, that it should be considered a subgenre to the Gothic. This subgenre, which in this paper will be termed the Heroic Gothic, posits that in response to the alienation of the Gothic, characters tend to group together as a united force so as to conquer the supernatural or evil forces. Foremost examples

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include Perhaps the most compelling example of this pattern of the Heroic Gothic is found in the zombie apocalypse.

The Heroic Gothic and Zombies ! Zombies, perhaps more clearly than any Gothic construct, require a banding together of

humans in order to defeat Keechs one character or agency that is infected. In any Heroic Gothic construct, this banding together trope proves just as essential in creating the correct tone as the Gothic isolation that critics defend. In an online culture and media dictionary, the denition for zombie apocalypse reads, With each victim [zombies] claim, their numbers swell, and no force on Earth can contain them. As society collapses, it's up to the Big Heroes to ght their way to safety or keep shooting until things blow over (zombiepedia.com). Even in this comical online dictionary, the Heroic Gothic pattern is not only asserted, but treated as an obvious and predictable aspect of the Gothic, proving its common presence in the genre. This paper will discuss the specic qualities of unity, sacrice, responsibility, and humility that constitute the subgenre of Heroic Gothic as illustrated in famously Gothic works to demonstrate not only its prolic presence in Gothic literature, but to also convey the importance of goodness and heroism in the genre.

World War Z and the Heroic Gothic ! This goodness and heroismor the Heroic Gothicis interestingly the single element

retained in the lm adaptation of Max Brooks New York Times best-selling novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The only other specically Gothic element chosen to be retained was the subject of zombies themselves. Excluding these two adapted elements, nearly

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every other concept of the lm starkly contrasts those found in the book. According to litreactor.com, Max Brooks even publicly dissed the Hollywood adaptation now raking in the bucks at the box ofce, warning viewers that the lm and his book had one thing in common: the title. If fans were expecting a faithful page-to-screen translation, Brooks said, they would be disappointed. Brooks, however, was mistaken in that the idea of a Heroic Gothic to defeat the zombies was chosen to be retained. In looking more closely at the constructs of the Heroic Gothic of World War Z and the qualities that are mirrored in other Gothic works, an interesting commentary is formed about society as a whole.

Heroic Unity in Night of the Living Dead ! The foremost quality of the Heroic Gothic appears to be unity, as is suggested by its

banding together aspect. In Night of the Living Dead, the seminal lm of zombie ideology, unity is the one thing the characters lackand as a result, they all die. The obvious failure of unity in the lm speaks of its essential presence in the Heroic Gothic to defeat evil. After singlehandedly boarding up the house, Night of the Living Dead character Ben discovers other survivors hiding in the cellar, though the character of Barbara had been screaming for help earlier with no response. The ensuing sections of conversation portray a striking failure of unity: Harry: We thought we could hear screams, but for all we knew, that meant those things were in the house after her. Ben: And you wouldn't come up here and help? Obviously, the attitude of working together in unity to defeat the zombies is missing in the very rst moments of meeting. The cowardly character of Harry epitomizes a selsh, every-man-for-

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himself tactic. He begins the conversation by lying, covering up having heard any alert of distress and removing any reason for guilt or responsibility for the safety of others around him. Harry: All right, now you tell me! I'm not gonna take that kind of a chance when we've got a safe place! We lock up into a safe place, and you're telling us that we gotta come up here and risk our lives just because somebody might need help, huh? Ben: Yeah, something like that. In the end, perhaps worst of all, Harry treats the idea of helping another as absurd. Ben recognizes this failure, yet even he fails at unity by replying only with a sarcastic comment, unwilling to explain the importance of working together to inspire some courage and valor in the others and instead taking it upon himself. Even the camera angle gives insight as Harrys comments come from him at a low-angle shot, while Bens ideas of unity are framed in a high-angle shot, posing his thoughts as high ideals and more positive and condent, yet they are never followed. These examples of failure in unity reect the failure of the Heroic Gothic and predetermine the death of all characters involved (the only characters who survive are the US forces banding together to ght against the zombies). Contrastingly, unity seems to be a central theme maintained in the novel and lm adaptation of World War Z that allows for any success. Author Max Brooks emphasizes the consequences of not binding together and of letting greed isolate the individual, leading to negative consequences: They say great times make great men. I don't buy it. I saw a lot of weakness, a lot of lth. People who should have risen to the challenge and either couldn't or wouldn't. Greed, fear, stupidity and hate. I saw it before the war, I see it

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today. [...] I don't know if great times make great men, but I know they can kill them (185). This powerful commentary portrays the essential nature of banding together and giving up any greed in isolation. In the lm adaptation, similar themes are established repeatedly. Gerry Lane relies, though he is the main protagonist ghting the apocalypse, on knowledge gained through others. His family is saved by banding together with another family in their home. He discovers a cure for the epidemic with the help of other doctors working together with him. One of the most poignant moments of the lm is Gerrys decision to join the ght, spurred on by a Naval Commander. After Gerry refuses to leave his family to help ght the epidemic, the Commander says, Take a look around you, Mr. Lane. Each and every one of these people are here because they serve a purpose. Theres no room here for non-essential personnel. You wanna help your family? Lets gure out how we stop this. Its your choice Mr. Lane. Here he makes clear that all who can help should join together in order to defeat the enemyand an every-man-forhimself attitude will not save anyone. This scene seems to emphasize the Commanders words as the scene cuts from Gerry standing alone and unsure to the Commander, anked with soldiers and personnel awaiting the answer. The continuous cuts seem to emphasize Gerrys desperate situation and the Commanders pulsating power in unity. Whether in emphasizing the consequences of not binding together in unity as in Night of the Living Dead or illustrating the importance of that unity in World War Z, there is a running theme that communicates unity as essential to the Heroic Gothic.

Heroic Sacrice in Dracula

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While unity is a key trait in the Heroic Gothic, Bram Stokers Gothic novel Dracula

makes evident that sacrice is a quality also critical in Heroic Gothic characters. This novel is one of the archetypal Heroic Gothic examples because of Abraham Van Helsings band of people who commit to ghting against the evil Count Dracula, sacricing all for the benet of others. After the death of Lucy, these men develop a sense of the Heroic Gothic, recognizing that they are strong, each in [their] purpose, and . . . are all more strong together. Thus they come together to embody the noble passion to save the world from such evileven if it requires their own lives. Abraham Van Helsing best typies the sacrice and responsibility that lies with good men for the sake of others: My Life is a barren and lonely one, and so full of work that I have not had much time for friendships . . . . I have known so many good people and seen such nobility that I feel more than everand it has grown with my advancing years the loneliness of my life. Believe, me, then, that I come here full of respect for you, and you have given me hopehope, not in what I am seeking of, but that there are good women still left to make life happy (188). By using the words barren and lonely, Stoker conveys the terrible weight of responsibility that lies not only on this band of good men, but on all men who determine to do good for the sake of others. Clearly, this sacrice is a difcult one to bear at times, though he seems to be uninching in the face of this sacrice. He takes this responsibility even further and makes the purpose even holier by comparing his band of men and their responsibility to that of the Crusaders, saying [God has] allowed us to redeem one soul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem more. Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise. And like them, if we fall, we fall in good cause (343). In perhaps one of the most self-sacricing

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quotations in this seminal Gothic novel, Van Helsing assures his men that their purpose is noble, and thus if they die, they die for a good cause. This powerful mindset must be taken on by anyone committed to ght evil for the sake of others, and is a concept also repeatedly emphasized in World War Z. Easily the most poignant example of the necessity of sacrice is the novels Redeker Plan, or the intentional sacrice of a large portion of the population in order to save a population in a more defensible or important location according to zombiepedia.com. Though this horric sacrice caused much controversy worldwide in the novel, it was this sacrice that proved to be the turning point in defeating Zackthe books other term for zombies. It seems beyond mere coincidence that Brooks uses an ultimate sacrice as being one of the main principles of the Heroic Gothic that allows them to succeed. Even in the novels lm adaptation is the theme of sacrice transferred over when, after ghting off zombies to get Gerry Lane safely back to his plane, the heroic commander is bitten by a zombie. Realizing he would be a danger to his comrades in moments, he shoots himself before all of his soldiers, sacricing himself for the sake of their safety. Clearly sacrice is held to be a Heroic Gothic trait because of its presence in both novel and lm adaptations of World War Z.

Heroic Responsibility in The Walking Dead ! While these Heroic Gothic traits of unity and sacrice are found in the American horror

drama television series The Walking Dead, the series seems to underscore yet another traitthat of responsibility. As is nearly always the case with the Heroic Gothic, the fear and terror of the impending Gothic monster, this time zombies again, requires a difcult choice by the characters. Though anyone can simply try to save themselves and avoid danger, it is always those members of the Heroic Gothic who instead take on the responsibility of protecting the weak, and in The

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Walking Deads case, that includes Sheriff Deputy Rick Grimes. This character provides a compelling illustration of taking on responsibility as he not only looks for his family, but also as he nds other survivors to protect and ght with. Upon protecting his son from the zombies, the following conversation ensues: Carl: Dad, you cant keep me from it. Rick: From what? Carl: From what always happens. Rick: Yeah. Maybe. But I think its my job to try. Here the term job has a deeper meaningby believing that it is his job to try and save his son from walkers (the series term for zombies), the word job also means responsibility. Upon seeing a threat to his family and his race, Rick (as well as those he nds and ghts alongside) immediately takes the responsibility of ghting the entire apocalypse to protect others. Rick recognizes this trait in others of his Heroic band of ghting people when he says, You do a lot for us. For the kids. You sacrice a lot. Is there anything you wouldnt do for the people here? Though they may not know all the people they are trying to help, they feel the responsibility to save and protect against the overtaking evil. Interestingly, this trait seems to also serve as a distraction, as when another character, Beth, recognizes, We dont get to be upset. We all have our jobs to do. Though hardly any of the characters knew each other previously, they are brought together to ght for survival when the zombies appears. Though they had no commonalities to begin with, they quickly gained the joint purpose of survival; their desire for life knits them together more deeply than any shallow acquaintance could afford. This driving responsibility of survival is also highlighted in Brooks World War Z:

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This is the only time for high ideals because those ideals are all that we have. We aren't just ghting for our physical survival, but for the survival of our civilization. We don't have the luxury of old-world pillars. We don't have a common heritage, we don't have a millennia of history. All we have are the dreams and promises that bind us together. All we have . . . is what we want to be (185). This WWZ narrative mirrors The Walking Deads recognition of the luxuries given up for survivalnot good food or comfortable living, but instead the luxury of getting upset or of relying on old-world pillars. In the very moment that this band of people lets go of the luxuries and each others differencesand instead grasps their responsibility to defeat the Gothic evil they face, they become what they want to bethe Heroic Gothic. This overarching duty manifests itself often in the Heroic Gothic and seems compulsory to proving successful in defeating the isolated Gothic.

Heroic Humility in The Stand ! An accompanying quality to taking on this Heroic duty and sacricing for others is being

humble enough to take on the duty. In Stephen Kings apocalyptic thriller, The Stand, the characters band together in a typically Heroic Gothic fashionand give up any shred of pride to do so. King imparts this effect by rst demonstrating peoples natural tendency when banding together for a cause: Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me ve and they'll

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make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare (ch. 2 par. 3). Clearly, this novel tries to impress upon readers how difcult it can be for peopleeven the good and the heroesto come together to accomplish something good in the face of evil. The entire plot of the bookbanding together to survive an apocalypseis contradicted in the very words give me seven and in seven years theyll reinvent warfare. Their groups purpose is to ght against warfareyet a groups natural tendency can be the very opposite. The novel provides humility as the answer to this dichotomy as an essential ingredient to the Heroic Gothic. Speaking of humble men, the novel reads: They are all the things the civics books tell us the good citizen should be: partisans but never zealots, respecters of the facts which attend each situation but never benders of those facts, uncomfortable in positions of leadership but rarely unable to turn down a responsibility once it has been offered . . . or thrust upon them. They make the best leaders in a democracy because they are unlikely to fall in love with power (190). By including this powerful principle of humility, King makes clear that any negative consequences of grouping togetherthe selshness, greed, and warfarecan be converted into great leadership, skill, and heroism. Without this humility, the all-important banding together quality is impossible and the characters isolate themselves, actualizing Bottings description of the individual stand[ing] at the edges of society and rarely nd[ing] a path back into the social fold. The moment the Heroic Gothic gives up humility, there is no unity, no sacrice, and no responsibility, and people will likely end up as the characters of Night of the Living Dead

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defeated and killed. Humility is showcased in a very obvious in Brooks World War Z when the rich and famous people in Hollywood came together in a large mansion and locked all others out. This cruel lack of humilityand prideful belief that the rich deserved life more than others became their downfall. In this situation, it was not the zombies that destroyed them, but the poorer people looking for refuge. As they broke into the house, the ghting and killing ensued, and the zombies easily came in after to feed on the massacre. Had the people maintained humility, a team or force could have fought against the enemy, yet pride seemed to simply create more enemies. This lack of morals seems to highlight their importance in survivaland perhaps in society at large.

The Heroic Gothic in Society ! The Heroic Gothic subgenre gives new shape and avor to the well-studied literary genre

of the Gothic, providing a new element to an old idea. Only a few of the qualities of the Heroic Gothic subgenre have been enumerated, yet these qualitiesunity, sacrice, responsibility, and humilityserve to represent the overarching morality that shapes these people who come together to ght the corruptive isolation of the Gothic. The Heroic Gothic is a working archetype that reveals itself repeatedly in Gothic literature, yet there seems to be an underlying reection of truth in its repeated morals of unity and goodness. While Gothic literature may be written for the excitement, thrill, and mystery that it provides, the presence of the Heroic Gothic seems to create a more signicant moral to the genre, and this morality is meant to be instructive to society of what qualities are needed to conquer any opposition. Though society may never face undead zombies, blood-sucking counts, or an apocalyptic end of the world, it is sure to face evil and opposition. Through the example of the Heroic Gothic, the qualities and morals necessary to

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overcome such opposition are detailed clearly for understandingand understanding is the rst step to becoming. Thus, according to Gothic literature, each decision a person makes seems to determine a little more precisely whether one is the monster or the hero of their own story. !

Works Cited Astle, Richard. Dracula as Totemic Monster: Lacan, Freud, Oedipus and History SubStance, ! Vol. 8, No. 4, Issue 25 (1979), pp. 98105. Print.

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Cameron, Allan. Zombie Media: Transmission, Reproduction, and the Digital Dead. Cinema ! Journal 52.1 (2012): 6689. Project MUSE. Web. 28 October 2013.

Hume, Robert D. Gothic versus Romantic: A Revaluation of the Gothic Novel. PMLA, Vol. 84, ! No. 2 (March 1969), pp. 282290. Print.

Jensen, Jeff. When Stephen King Met The Lost Boys. Entertainment Weekly 909 (2006): 48. ! MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

Johnson, Angela. The City, Not Long After. Off Our Backs. July 31, 1989: 21. ProQuest. Web. ! 4 Nov. 2013.

Keech, James M. The Survival of the Gothic Response. Studies in the Novel. University of ! North Texas. Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1974), pp. 130144. Print.

Night of the Living Dead. Dir. George Romero. Duane Jones, Judith ODea. Anchor Bay ! Entertainment, 1999. Film.

Night! of the Living Dead. Imdb.com. Internet Movie Database, Web.

Schmid, Thomas H. Addiction and Isolation in Frankenstein: A Case of Terminal Uniqueness. ! ! Gothic Studies. University of Texas at El Paso. November 2009, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 1929. Web.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 1886. New York, NY. Signet, 1994. Print.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. New York, NY. Marboro Books Corp., 1992. Print.

Walking Dead. AMC. IFC Films, New York City. Television.