28 Days Later and Warm Bodies

Both "28 Days Later" and Warm Bodies force us to become conscious of our state of living; that is, are we truly experiencing what it is to be alive? Both stories present a character who exists to define what it means to be living, while there is also a character—who still holds a human form—who does not embrace the conditions of being live and exists in a “dead” state. These works call attention to the meaningless aspects of life that we depend so heavily on and the way in which we can detach ourselves in order to “preserve” our survival.  We are encouraged as an audience to live freely and lovingly while our hearts still beat, while we remain human.

Warm Bodies differs from "28 Days Later" in that the zombie holds more life than most of the humans in the story. Though R has been converted to a zombie, he shows that he is capable of transformation through his willingness to feel emotion and behave humanly. He does not hesitate to feel regret, love, or guilt. He is able to recognize his faults and reverse them, a characteristic that humans so often avoid. He demonstrates great bravery through his various attempts to save Julie as well as defend her in any way possible. Whether it be from the attacks of the Boneys or simply unkind words from the men from the bar, R does not pause to contemplate; he behaves off human, emotion-based instinct. In this way, R behaves commendably and is regarded as a human throughout the text.