Aaron Escalante

Kati Lewis
English 2010
March 18, 2016
Zombie Art & Culture Analysis
The Forest of Hands and Teeth Culture Analysis
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan is a novel featuring a teenage girl named
Mary living in a love triangle she cant escape because there are physical fences and even a cult
known as the Sisterhood preventing her from leaving. That isnt a problem for long, however,
seeing how the Unconsecrated, unholy and blasphemous people who were trying to cheat God.
Trying to cheat death. Trying to change His will. (Ryan 63) according to Sister Tabitha, ended
up breaking down the wall and destroying the village in what felt like half an hour, probably
even less. While at first, that may seem surprising, it really isnt considering how the leaders of
that village had set up their society, and with an even closer look, it becomes obvious that their
culture, their way of life, had set them up to fail.
Before one analyzes the how though, one will have to know
the why. Why was the village overcome so quickly and seemingly
out of nowhere? Well, according to the story, there are three main
groups within this society: the Sisterhood, the Guardians, and the
general public. Obviously, each group carries out the duties their
society gives them; the Sisterhood is the religious figure led by
Sister Tabitha, the Guardians serve as the police force working
with the Sisterhood to keep the Unconsecrated out led by Travis
and Harrys Father, and the general public which consists of those
that carry out the daily duties and chores. In case of break-in, a
siren is activated that warns everyone to climb up trees using
ladders and then pull up said ladders if the Unconsecrated start
getting close regardless of whether everyone is up or not.
The problem in that structure lies not just in what it has, but
in what it lacks, the primary problem being that it does not have some sort of wall
reinforcement/maintenance group. Think of a fence as a bouncer at a party. The tougher and
bigger it is, the less likely unwanted guests will enter, especially if the unwanted guests are
mindless zombies with no strength or ability past their deteriorating muscles. The society Mary
lived in was playing a defensive game without making any noticeable effort to boost their
defenses. One could argue that they didnt have the means to build their own Great Wall of

China, but they certainly had the means to do

better than an old chain link fence where
someone could get grabbed by an
Unconsecrated because they were simply too
close (Refer to Marys Mother). Another
argument could be that Jed points out that
The Guardians train to repair fences (Ryan 149) but to repair something means that its been
broken before and therefore there is even more reason to have a fourth group specifically geared
to not only build a better wall, but to maintain it so that the Guardians can focus on guarding.
One could also argue that they were preparing for the inevitable break-in instead of wasting time
building a wall, but its unlikely that that would be the Sisterhoods way of thinking, especially
considering their religious beliefs.
Simply put, the Sisterhood (especially Sister Tabitha) believed themselves to be protected
by the all-powerful saving grace of the most loving and understanding Heavenly Father who
would never let any harm befall on them because they were righteous and reverent and forget all
that because the Unconsecrated broke in anyway. There is nothing wrong with believing in a
higher power, but as the Activist Post puts it, Your faith will not hydrate you with sufficient
drinking water, nor will your faith feed your starving body (Levy 1) and your faith will certainly
not protect you from a super zombie in red, something that Sister Tabitha, the religious leader
thought to be the most reverent of them all, learned from first-hand experience.
With that thought process of heavenly protection, preparing for a break-in or boosting up
ones defenses would seem totally pointless as God Himself is on the watch 24/7. Therefore, the
uber religious culture of Marys society has
defeated itself. The idea of God
saving/protecting the righteous ones is not
something unique to Marys culture
however. There are many Americans in our
own Western culture that share that belief,
using it to justify their lack of preparedness
for any disaster, not just the zombie
apocalypse.
To summarize thus far, the culture of
Marys society is one of religious dependence, a culture that dismisses preparedness and
defensive procedures necessary for long-term survival in favor of worship and prayer to a higher
being that will protect them. This cultural ideology explains why there is an absence of a more
detailed and effective in-case-of-zombies plan and a fourth group within the village dedicated
to defense building/maintenance, something a society absolutely needs if they are going to go on
the defense with a fence.

Next, the problems with Marys societys culture that exists due to what is already in it.
Looking first at the in-case-of-zombies plan set up, there is one prominent problem. For
arguments sake, the Unconsecrated break in and kill everyone they can get their hands on. The
religious leader, Sister Tabitha is killed and the Sisterhood fortifies within the Cathedral, leaving
whatever survivors up in the trees. That situation is not hypothetical, it really does happen, and
the big question hovering overhead is: now what? Sit there until the Unconsecrated get bored and
leave? Pray for God to bring down his wrath upon the Unconsecrated? Get into a staring contest
with an Unconsecrated whose eyelids are missing?
The plan is so vague and doesnt seem to include
anything for the long run. Are there even supplies up
there, and if so, how long will they last and for how
many people were they for? The Unconsecrated
obviously dont plan on leaving, something apparent
in the other village Mary and friends come across
where they simply stand and stare as if waiting for the
survivors to slip up. If a disaster preparedness plan
only plans as far as the initial disaster and not for the
fallout as well, one may as well already be dead.
Another problem lies in how the knowledge and power is spread out. This topic is not
solely a disaster preparedness problem, but also a problem with media and sharing of
information. See, the Sisterhood possesses all knowledge and memories from the past; something
that Sister Tabitha acknowledges was done on purpose when she says The Sisterhood carries a
sacred burden. We carry it so that the villagers do not. So that we can forget what came before,
can heal, become reborn without the weight of our sins before the Return. (Ryan 67). This is a
problem for media because the general public doesnt know anything, and its also a problem for
disaster preparedness because if the Sisterhood has any knowledge of these super zombies like
Gabrielle, then they should tell the Guardians and general public so that they can be better
prepared. The problem is that the Sisterhood doesnt tell everyone else, and whether thats
because they themselves didnt know or not, the
Guardians werent prepared for Gabrielle and the village
fell because of it. In a way, one could consider Gabrielle
as a metaphor for government secrets because once they
come out and are exposed, it hits hard and a lot of people
arent prepared to see what the ones in power have been
doing behind their back.
Now that the analysis has gone full circle, the time
has come to answer the original question: Why was the
village overcome so quickly and seemingly out of nowhere? The quick and literal answer would
be that the Guardians were fixing a breach in the fence and Gabrielle came out of nowhere and

killed them all, leaving room for the Unconsecrated to come in and destroy the village. The full
and zombie issue related answer would be that due to multiple failures of the society to prepare
for the Unconsecrated due to its culture of religious dependence that can be demonstrated via a
lack of a detailed in-case-of-zombie plan, a lack of a fourth group dedicated to wall
building/maintenance, withholding of vital knowledge by those in charge to the rest of the
village, and the simple belief that God would protect them had set them up to be knocked down
by the bowling ball known as the Unconsecrated.

Works Cited
Levy, Gaye. "7 Reasons People Refuse To Prepare For Disaster." Activist Post. 5 Jan. 2012.
Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. New York City: Random House, 2009. Print.