The
fear of a zombie apocalypse, while unrealistic, is still fairly relevant to a
handful of Americans, entailing why a satirical newspaper, The Onion published an article entitled, “Study Reveals Pittsburgh Unprepared for Full-Scale Zombie Attack” in 2005. Despite the sarcastic tone of
all articles from this news source, examples of “zombie organizations and
administrators” along with a daunting metaphor do not fail to make the threat
of apocalypse possible. These aspects are employed in order to prepare Pittsburgh for an attack from the undead. According to the Zombie Preparedness Institute (ZPI), a mock scientific organization mentioned in the article, “when
it comes to defending ourselves against an army of reanimated human corpses,
the officials in charge have fallen asleep at the wheel” (The Onion 2). The metaphor
describes the government officials, typically thought to ‘keep the state safe’,
as the opposite in this case; “falling asleep at the wheel” refers to the officials
not paying attention and taking charge of the issue at hand, the threat of a
zombie apocalypse. This daunting metaphor aids to warn the audience, citizens
of Pittsburgh, that they must take charge to remain safe in times of chaos. In addition,
the article uses the words of mock zombie expert, Dr. Milton Cornelius to
further describe the state of disaster. Cornelius remarks, “Today’s zombies
quickly learn to open doors, break windows, and stage ambushes” (The Onion 4). Cornelius’
description of the zombies’ attributes aids to inform the audience what they
will be facing if they do come across one of the undead, so they can be prepared
to fight for their lives. Also interesting is the fact that Cornelius states
that the zombies are capable of learning, something usually not associated with
walking human corpses. Thus, by employing a metaphor, and mock information from
zombie experts and organizations, The
Onion was able to help prepare the citizens of Pittsburgh for a fight with
the undead.
Visual: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/survive-zombie-apocalypse
Caption: "Best to be Prepared"
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