Are You Hungrier Than a Fifth Grader? The Rise of the Monstrous Child in The Walking Dead

Abstract

Contemporary Western zombie narratives have become overrun with the little girl zombie. This figure exists in a liminal space: its function in the narrative is difficult to pinpoint because—even as monster—it is often treated more like a human child. Using Jack Halberstam’s analysis of monstrous bodies and Lee Edelman’s discussion of the figural Child, I explore the function of the little girl zombie, adding to the existing scholarly studies of Monstrous Children in film, television, and literature. The Monstrous Child is a site in which to play out the repressed desire to destroy the embodiment of the figural Child, a desire that—because the child embodies the highly valued innocence and futurity associated with childhood—is simultaneously dangerous and yet cathartic.