Inflexibility in Isaac Marion's "Warm Bodies"

   In Marion's "Warm Bodies", the theme of inflexibility creates a paradoxical state in the novel. The "bonies" and the apocalypse-deadened humans are both characterized by a rigid mental state characterized by binary opposition, an "us-vs-them" mentality. This state is the implied reason for General Grigio's transformation from a human to a bonie, since both the younger humans and the zombies possess a more flexible mental state. This flexibility and adaptiveness represents, according to the author, the best in humanity, since it is a perfectible state. However, the struggle throughout the novel is between flexibility and inflexibility, which is again a binary opposition. The fact that conflict between these two ideologies is inevitable is interesting, because it implies that the conflict is in some way endemic to this situation. As long as individuals with entrenched ideologies exist, they will be in opposition to more dynamic modes of existence. The notion that is presented in the close of the novel, namely reducing the chance for rigid ideologies to develop by exposing individuals to new forms of thought (in this case, the notion that the zombies are not innately threatening) is pleasantly optimistic. However, if this novel is a social critique, it may be too idealistic to be a reflection of contemporary social reality. Rigid ideologies worldwide still find adherents among the dispossessed, rootless and angry, indicating that exposure to more flexible worldviews, by themselves, will not change this problem.