The question of how to kill zombies, all people understand in their own way. Most recall the contents of horror films or novels about the living dead. Slightly fewer people associate zombies with online games or other options for such entertainment. Accordingly, they recall how zombies are destroyed in accordance with the plots of games, films, books. And very few people think about what zombies are from the beginning.
Where did this name come from?
The word appeared in Russian from English. The British pronounced zombie, referring to the "living dead". But they themselves borrowed this name from Creole colloquial dialect, prevailing on the island of Haiti. True, the Haitians pronounced it a little differently - zonbi. But the Creole dialect only borrowed this word from the Kimbundu language or the northern variety of Mbundu.
Kimbundu is spoken in several provinces of Angola, along the coast of Congo and in Zambia. This is the native language for the people of the Ambundu or, as these people are also called, the northern Mbundu, Mbuni, and Bambun. Whether the word "zombie" is native to this language, or is also borrowed, linguistic scientists do not know. In kimbundu, the word sounds nzumbe.
What is it originally?
Before killing zombies, regardless of what it is about - a game character, a literary hero or other options, it would be nice to know what it is. In the perception of most people, the term "zombie" is strongly associated with religious or cult rituals of voodoo. More precisely, only two words are related, since few people can answer the question about what zombies are and what voodoo is without remembering the content of Hollywood films.
Initially, the term "zombie" was understood as the state of a person who did not belong to the world of the living, but was not dead. It was a body devoid of soul and mind, but with amazing physical strength, endurance, and often surprising humility.
These are the first ideas of Europeans about this phenomenon. They were formed largely due to notes that William Seabrook, the then-known journalist who wrote for The New York Times, shared with readers in his book “Island of Magic”. The journalist spent some time in Haiti, studying local customs, including religious rites.
However, the history of zombies as a cultural phenomenon is much older than the fact that the correspondent saw in Haiti. And, of course, the goal of creating zombies was not at all their work on reed plantations in southern America. The concept of "zombies" penetrated into the Western lands along with the Africans brought by slave traders, who professed completely different beliefs. Representatives of Western civilization, without really thinking, are still called the set of these superstitions by the general term "voodoo."
Many historians suggest that the word "zombie" had a different meaning. The term is associated with a huge snake, which was the embodiment of darkness itself and opposed to sunlight. In Western cults related to Voodoo, this serpent was called the word nzumbe. According to one version, sorcerers or just worshipers performed a zombie ceremony as punishment or punishment for any crimes before the serpent, revered as one of the deities. The purpose of the ceremony was to deprive a person of his individuality. What remained of the punished, for the rest of his life, served the cult of the serpent.
What is it called now?
Currently, the term "zombie" refers to the character of mass culture, which is an archetype. But besides the perception of a zombie as a "living dead" wandering on movie screens or in virtual reality, there are other meanings.
So called people under strong influence. For example, sectarians, just religious fanatics, or people who are infinitely loyal to a certain idea, blindly believing in something. In other words, the term “zombie” is used to refer to the psychological state of a person obsessed with something. The name is also used in the scientific community: philosophy, neuroprogramming. Since 2001, carnival processions called "zombie mob" have been held around the world. These are costume parades dedicated to the disclosure of the theme of the "living dead" in modern culture.
How to kill them?
Paradoxically, the question of how to kill zombies was at one time dealt with at the headquarters of the strategic command of the US Armed Forces. As a result of this, a plan came to light, called CONOP 8888. What exactly it says is still a secret, since the list of actions is mandatory for familiarization to senior officer ranks. That is, the leadership of the US Army knows exactly how to resist the zombie apocalypse, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. The public only knows about this plan that it is, and information on the list of necessary actions came directly from the military spokesmen. Accordingly, the military in the United States is really capable of destroying zombies.
The rest of the people will have to be content with knowledge from films, books, games, or African legends. According to legends and African tales, zombies are completely devoid of sensitivity. That is, scenes from films in which hands or feet are sawed off to a “living” dead man, and he does not even frown and continues to pursue the victim, African ideas are not at all contradicted.
Proceeding from this, it is possible to destroy the living dead only by depriving him of the controlling nerve node, in other words, his head. It does not have to be cut off. You can smash your head with any improvised item: a bat, a hammer, a sledgehammer, even a paperweight from the table is quite suitable. The goal is irreparable damage to the brain. Only this can destroy zombies.
If we perceive zombies as a change in the functioning of the parts of the brain, then only the organ shutdown can stop the "living dead". For example, many crazy people have monstrous physical strength, completely do not feel pain, and are completely devoid of intelligence. Pretty similar to the behavior of zombies.
Understanding how to destroy the "living dead", you need to figure out where to kill zombies. According to numerous beliefs, the dead man awakens to life upon hearing the call of the sorcerer. He is selected from the grave and follows the call of the owner. So it’s logical to ambush a zombie in a cemetery. However, not all so simple. In the event of a mass rebellion of the dead from the land, ambushes or patrolling cemeteries make sense. But if we are talking about one case of zombies, the best way to protect against the living dead is not to destroy it, but to prevent rebellion from the grave.
For these purposes, in the southern states of America the human skull is still nailed to the coffin or the head of the deceased is cut off. Of course, they are done by relatives and with confidence that the deceased relative can rise from the grave.