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Empathy Among Monsters: An Examination of Care Ethics in the Literature of the Undead
Kayla Esterline, PA-S
I’m here to talk to you about monsters. I’m talking Frankenstein, Dracula, vampires, and
zombies. Now I’m not talking about the sparkly ones, but you all know what I mean. My
question to you is how many of you are prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse? Anyone…?
Seriously though, what would you actually do if suddenly you weren’t the top species anymore?
You’d have to play by a whole new set of rules. Even if they resemble the monsters of our
legends, surviving in that new world is going to be a lot more complicated than locking yourself
up with a stockpile of guns and Twinkies. However, we can use those legends as a guide for how
to treat our new neighbors.
Believe it or not, ethics do have a place in a world of the undead. In order to prove that
to you, I have selected four novels that represent the monstrosities that haunt our nightmares.
They come from diverse backgrounds and time periods, but they are all connected by their
empathetic characters. Specifically, I will be examining the novels in the context of care ethics.
Carol Gilligan created this revolutionary theory in response to the strictly “masculine” ethical
theories of her time. Instead of detached, justice-based ethics, this theory claims that ethics
should be based on emotions and relationships. It does not require equality or rationality, so
we can easily apply it to both the outsider species and the humans in these novels. One
important suggestion of care ethics predicts that individuals will extend rights to others with
whom they empathize. By using this idea, we can determine why the characters tend to extend
respect, compassion, and freedom to others they understand.

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Let’s begin with the earliest novel, Frankenstein, which was written in 1818 by Mary
Shelley. She created Dr. Frankenstein, a young scientist obsessed with the power to create life.
He is inspired by his teachers’ words about philosophers, “they command the thunders of
heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows”
(Shelley 42). His supreme arrogance only allows him to think about the individuals able to
stroke his ego, not the ones who could potentially be endangered by his experiments. He even
believes his creation would love him like a father. But instead of receiving recognition and love,
he feels only horror at what he has created.
Abandoned by the man who gave him life for personal gain, the monster begins to
discover his new world. Although he is chased away by many of the terrified people he
encountered, he is not inclined to violence at first. He settles into a hiding place next to the
DeLacey home. After he watches them for a while, he imagines himself as a part of their family.
When he tries to reveal himself to them, however, that illusion is destroyed. Frustrated by their
reaction, he burns their home in the first act of violence not committed in self-defense. His
empathy for humans vanishes when he realizes that his appearance would not allow them to
love him in return.
Upon realizing this, the monster tracks Frankenstein down, murdering people along the
way. The monster’s need for companionship has no effect on Frankenstein, but the monster
knows of his master’s pride. The monster demands a female companion and offers gratitude
towards his creator in return. However, Frankenstein reneges on his promise. He no longer
cares about making the monster or even himself happy; He fears unleashing another being like
him among humans. Furious, the monster kills everyone that Frankenstein loves in a flurry of

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revenge that destroys both of them. In the end, they both deeply regret their lack of empathy
to each other and their fellow creatures.
Now that we’ve covered Frankenstein, we can move onto vampires. While most young
people today think of Twilight when I say the word vampire, Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1897
was one of the first classic pop culture novel to create a frightening vampire. Instead of just
portraying the results of the absence of empathy, it depicts both of its extremes. On one hand,
the humans are extraordinarily virtuous, almost too good to be believable. They easily relate to
one another on a straightforward basis of love and faith. After Lucy rejects two of her suitors,
they all still remain devoted friends. The group trusts all the strange explanations from Dr. Van
Helsing about Lucy and Mina’s inexplicable sicknesses. All of Lucy’s suitors and the Doctor
himself donate blood to Lucy in a vain attempt to save her life. Later, Mina volunteers to
telepathically spy on Dracula even though it is very frightening for her. Jonathan, though
traumatized by his imprisonment, returns to Dracula’s castle in order to save Mina from
becoming a vampire. And one of the characters selflessly sacrifices his life in the struggle to
destroy Dracula once and for all. They trust each other because they know that they would all
sacrifice themselves for someone they loved.
Count Dracula, on the other hand, is perfect example of a cruel, emotionless vampire.
His relationships with others exist only when he has something to gain. When Jonathan was
trapped in the castle, he witnesses an encounter between Dracula and his three vampire brides.
They accuse Dracula, “You yourself have never love. You have never loved” (Stoker 62). But
Dracula denies this. He contests the human definition of love. For example, he “loves”
Johnathan for the information he provided. Back in England, Van Helsing explains that Dracula

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has a “child brain.” Dracula is intelligent and rational, but his mind is not mature enough to
consider others’ positions. He is quite egocentric, just like a child. After Dracula changes Lucy,
she mirrors his frame of mind. She is no longer a sweet, innocent young woman, but a terrifying
creature that preys on children at night. Her fiancé has no qualms about destroying her once he
finds out what she is. He knows that she is no longer capable of faith or love. Although this is a
quite straightforward interpretation of good and evil, you can see from the movie adaptation
that it is also overdramatic and cheesy.
Dracula’s idealismmanifests in the 1954 novel I am Legend by Richard Matheson.
Robert Neville scoffs at the novel’s ridiculous plot. He feels that it makes a mockery of his
situation. Nearly every night, he is driven into a semi-suicidal alcoholic rage by the vampires
bedeviling him outside his safe house. He is tormented by the loss of his family. After his wife
rose from the dead to drink his blood, he can only associate the vampires with losing his loved
ones. During the day, he works to kill as many vampire pests as he can, whether they are alive
or dead. He doesn’t do it for self-defense, but he feels that he needs to fight against this new
species invading his world.
One day, he comes across a dog that is miraculously not infected. Although he has cut
himself off from the vampires around him, he works to gain the dogs trust. Unfortunately, the
dog succumbs to illness and Neville is left emotionally numb. He has experienced so much pain
that he is now devoid of empathy, much like Count Dracula himself. He becomes unflappable.
The screams of the vampires outside his house no longer enrage him. Instead of just killing the
vampires, he begins experimenting on them to discover the secrets behind their infection.

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Years later, another miracle appears: Neville finds Ruth. At first, Neville does not know
how to behave towards Ruth. He has not had empathy for another being for so long that he is
rusty at it. Eventually, though, they began sharing their experiences and trusting each other.
Neville even tells her about his wife, someone he has avoided thinking about for years.
Unfortunately, Neville tests her blood and discovers her infection. The next thing he knows, he
is out cold on the floor next to a note from Ruth. She tells him about her high status position in
the new society of living vampires. She warns him that they will come for him eventually. She
ends the letter by saying that she loves him, despite his crimes. When he shared his pain with
her, Ruth finally understood the person behind the monstrous “legend.” Despite her warnings,
Neville remains where he is and is captured. When Ruth visits himbefore his execution, he says
he didn’t leave out of habit, but I have a different theory. No one in the world would be able to
love or accept him anymore. He is a monster to everyone, including himself. That is how he will
be remembered: “Full circle. A new terror born in death, a new superstition entering the
unassailable fortress of forever. I am legend” (Matheson 160). His experiments were similar
in nature to those of Frankenstein’s. The gurney picture looks very familiar, doesn’t it? Unlike
Frankenstein, however, it is pain instead of pride that leads him to inflict harm on other
creatures in the name of curiosity. Neville now feels horror for his actions and accepts the
unfortunate consequences.
Last but certainly not least, the novel The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell is the
most recent story. It was published in 2010 and is the only one of these novels not to be
adapted to film. The main character Temple has a different view of the world. She grew up
mostly on her own, so she is street smart but illiterate. While many people around her fear the

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zombies, she knows her own conscience is far more dangerous. She feels “queasy” looking into
the “dark corners” of her mind (Bell 11). However, despite the desolation around and inside
her, she still believes in the existence of a benevolent God. She sees Him in tiny miracles all
around her, in everything from luminous fish to a resilient worm creeping along in a basement.
This view allows her to try to empathize with everyone. She has an air of trusting innocence to
go along with her strong will to live. Although she isn’t convinced of it, that combination of
goodness keeps her from becoming completely feral.
As Temple travels, she meets survivors that have found different ways of coping with
the end of the world. Of course, she makes sure to talk to all of them. Some throw all morality
out the window. They think of only themselves and what they want. Others are in denial and
barricade themselves in rare safe buildings. Some turn to drugs, cults, or cannibalism-whichever
they associate easiest with. Strangely, the cannibals seem well-adjusted to the new world. Their
lifestyle makes them a new kind of human species. They’ve survived off of the zombies and are
taking advantage of their new lives to see the wonders of the world, something Temple dearly
wants to do. Temple, however, has some terrible guilt that is holding her back. Her little
brother was murdered by the zombies, and she feels that she should have been there to
protect him. When she stumbles upon Maury, he reminds her of her brother. He is mentally a
simple child himself, which is why she feels she needs to protect him. By using Maury as a
surrogate, she hopes that she can lessen some of the guilt she feels.
While attempting to deliver Maury to his family, she also has to deal with Moses. He is a
quite complicated character. Moses actually loves and respects Temple. He knows she killed his
brother in self-defense, but he still feels obligated to murder her personally. Knowing Moses’

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background helps his character to make a little more sense. Moses was around before the
zombie epidemic spread. He had a family and a daughter named Lilly, whom he loved dearly.
And now, Moses is faced with Temple, a tough girl with a big heart that would have been about
Lilly’s age. Temple represents the new world to Moses, and Moses does not want to let go of
his old world. It is too painful for him to be able to relate to her, so instead he wants to kill her.
To most of us, this probably sounds insane. To Moses and Temple, though, it makes perfect
sense. Both of their ethics have been shaped by their experiences of grief.
Throughout this novel, there is always a question of what is good and what is evil. It’s
not your typical zombie novel; this is an impressive piece of philosophical literature. Even the
title has a special significance. It is an excerpt of this bible verse, the parable of the weeds:
“The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares [weeds]
are the children of the wicked one… The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are
the angels” (Matthews 13:38-39) Temple’s guilt leads her to believe that she is a “weed” pulling
up the good “wheat” around her. She never tries to take preemptive action against Moses
because she can see the good and the evil in herself. Moses believes his world has ended
already, and all that is left is “weeds.” He has no empathy for anyone, not even himself. Little
by little, though, he begins to love Temple. He understands that she is “grieving, not evil.” And
slowly, he begins to see the beauty in the world again.
The world is not full of monsters like Moses believes, but it is not all fairies and bunny
rabbits, either. The trick to surviving is to identify the monster. The real monsters are not the
ones that are ugly or different. They are the ones without empathy. Pride, anger, selfishness,
and especially pain prevent people from being able to understand each other. Zombies might

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not want our brains; they could just need a little sympathy. Vampires could want to suck our
blood (or hook up with whiny teenage girls), but they might just need some friendship too.
Now, hopefully, you will all have empathy as an extra tool in your zombie apocalypse survival
kit. Thank you all for your time and I hope you enjoyed the presentation!

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Character Map
FRANKENSTEINbyMaryShelley
VictorFrankenstein-Thisscientist gave life to a body made up of spare corpse parts. Over a series
of painful experiences, he decides to hunt the monster down.
TheMonster-He turns violent after facing constant rejections from humans. He persuades
Frankenstein to create a mate forhim in exchange for their self-imposed banishment. When
Frankenstein backs out, the monster devotes the rest of his unhappy life torevenge.
TheDeLaceyFamily-The monster bonds with this family fromafar and learns much from them.
When he tries to meet them in person, however, they are terrified of him.
DRACULA byBramStoker
CountDracula-An ancient vampire plotting to move his reign of terror from remote Transylvania
to bustling London. He wreaks havoc throughout his journey.
VanHelsing-This doctoris the leader of the hunt for Dracula. He convinces the group to work
together to destroy Dracula’s safe havens and finally Dracula himself.
Jonathanand MinaHarker-He is held captive by Dracula so the vampire can learn to blend into
England. He escapes, but goes briefly insane because of his trauma. Later, his wifeMina gets
bitten by Dracula and can only be saved by Dracula’s destruction.
Lucy Westenraand hersuitors-Mina’s friend Lucy becomes a vampire after succumbing to a
mysterious illness that caused all the blood to drain from her body.Her suitors do
everything in their power to save her body and later her soul.
I AM LEGEND byRichardMatheson
RobertNeville-Thelast man alive after a vampire plague wiped out the entire human population.
While dealing with the loss of his wife and daughter, he begins experimenting on the
vampires and discovers the infectioninside them.
Ruth- At first, Neville thinks he has discovered another non-infectedhuman. When he finds out she
is infected,though, she escapes and leaves him a note explaining their new vampire society.
THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS by Alden Bell
Temple- A 15 year old orphan girl raised most of her life in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies.
She wants to see the world, but she meets many complications that prevent her from doing that.
Moses Todd- Moses pursuesTemple on a quest of vengeance for the death of his brother. Even
though Moses knows she killed his brother in self-defense, he still wants to kill Temple himself. At
the same time, he is coping with the loss of his wife and daughter.

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Maury-Although he is mute and simple-minded, Temple endangers herself in order to deliver
Maury safely to his family instead of going off to see the world alone.
Bibliography
Bell,Alden. TheReapersaretheAngels. New York: HenryHoltand Company,2012. Print.
Matheson,Richard. I amLegend. NewYork: Tom DohertyAssociates,LLC,1995. Print.
Shelley,Mary. Frankenstein. NewYork:Barnes&Noble Classics,2003. Print.
Stoker,Bram. Dracula. Boston:Bedford/St.Martin’s,2002. Print.
Further Reading:
Adams,Carol J. and Donovan,Josephine,eds. Beyond AnimalRights:A FeministCaring Ethic forthe
Treatmentof Animals. NewYork: The ContinuumPublishingCompany,1996.Print.
Mays, KellyJ. TheNorton Introduction to Literature:ShorterEleventh Edition. New York:W.W. Norton&
Company,Inc,2013. Print.