by Marshall Chisholm

Created on: April 19, 2009   Last Updated: April 21, 2009

Zombie Symbolism in 28 Days Later

The rage virus is a representation of the anxieties society holds with easily spread infections and viruses. Specifically one can look and the AIDS virus. AIDS is an infection of unknown origin, and has been shrouded in myths and superstitions. One popular manifestation of this fear is that the virus was created, instead of picked up naturally. The government, terrorists, cults, all are suspected creators of the AIDS virus as a means of either destroying a society or controlling population growth.

Juliet Lapidos' "The AIDS Conspiracy Handbook" shows a recently developed theory about the origin of the AIDS virus: "According to the pamphlet, scientists at a Fort Detrick, Md., military lab manufactured the disease by synthesizing HTLV-1 (a retrovirus that causes T-cell leukemia) with Visna (a sheep virus)" (Lapidos, Wright).

According to the pamphlet, the bio-agent was injected into inmates who in turn introduced the virus to the population (Lapidos, Wright). The RAGE virus is introduced to us during the opening scene in the film; monkeys are infected and are kept within cages for analysis. The purpose for the virus was never made clear. When a monkey is freed, it immediately bites a scientist and from there we assume the infection spreads.

The RAGE virus is easily spread and takes effect momentarily. The virus is transmitted through body fluids, blood and saliva being the most popular way of transmission. HIV, the first stage of AIDS, is transmitted through similar ways. However, sexual contact is the prevalent cause. Blood, semen, saliva, urine, any form of body fluid potentially holds both of these pathogens. However, HIV is not easily detected and can go unnoticed until AIDS develops and sever symptoms occur (Levy). HIV and AIDS have very specific symptoms, one of which is the direct assault on the immune system. This has given AIDS victims a very low survival rate, one of the reasons that the virus as been suspected of artificial origins (Lapidos).

The possibility that the government formed this virus is real, yet only opinion and mismatched documents reference such an idea. Yet given enough people to follow a belief, that idea inevitably becomes real. The RAGE virus is a Hollywood version of what people fear AIDS or some other "super virus" will become. Take AIDS in its crude form, a virus that attacks the immune system and leaves the body open to other pathogens, and compare it to the RAGE. The RAGE virus simulates an over-exaggerated

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