The Dead Retaining Memories

[Nymph]

This has always been something of discussion when it came to any movie or TV series or just about anything that had to do with zombies. Do zombies retain any kind of memory of their past lives? While for the most part in The Walking Dead, ya don't really see that much that would suggest that. However, something brought me to the attention of the little girl zombie that Rick runs into called Summer as well as Morgan's wife who is a walker. Obviously both those walkers would take any chance to eat a human, even Morgan but..For Morgan's wife, she came to the house at the same time and did the same thing that the other walkers didn't do, she would try and open the door at the same time which of course was to no avail. Why would that walker do that over and over everyday at the same time? Perhaps it is more of a routine then a memory or a habit you could say. Maybe the retain some of that, maybe not memory of their husband or wife but just habits or routines they had.

As for the little girl, why did she pick up the teddy bear? Why in the world would a walker ever just randomly pick up a teddy bear and if they could do that just normally, then why not a weapon? (If AMC had the walkers use weapons I wouldn't watch the show anymore...)Perhaps the little girl had some small memory or habit that has retained of the teddy bear. (Makes sense, little girl...teddy bear..You see where I am going.)What do y'all think? Obviously if they had full on memories of loved ones they wouldn't eat them but what about habits or routines they may have had. I mean, in one of the webisodes, Judy makes it back to the house somehow. I was under the impression she was far away and it is kinda unlikely she could have stumbled her way all the way there.

So yeah, discuss. XD

 

[Sheldon]

I agree, completely. There is some type of memory they keep. As you said, the girl and her teddy bear, the wife of Morgan, those are two very obvious ones. It's not clear if its the habits (the bear, wife walking to house) or the acutal memory itself. Not sure its the memories though, after all, we have seen others attempt to eat family (Amy attempting to bite Andrea before she shot her).

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning now towards habits. Seems to make more sense.

 

[Nymph]

I agree, the more I wonder about it the more I am curious. However I decided to read the wiki and they said zombies are incapable of openings doors due to their stupidity since they are more about instinct than intelligence. Yet you see Morgan's wife trying to turn the door knob, obviously she isn't more special than other walkers but perhaps she kept that habit even in death. So it's more likely habit than memory, even if we wished it were memory but then walkers wouldn't ever eat anyone really. XD

 

[PhoenixDown]

There are a few other examples of the walkers showing limited intelligence.

- I think Bicycle Girl's mom (the half zombie from the pilot that Rick shoots) was crawling, trying to get to the green as that was the last thought on her mind and paramount to her children's safety.

- At the mall (I think, it was in season 1) a zombie picks up a rock and bashes it against the glass doors.

- After Glen saves Rick in Season 1, they climb up a fire escape and the Zombies follow.

As for the girl, maybe she died holding the teddy bear? Some of the zombies seem to carry around objects they died holding. One of the webisodes showed a guy (forget his name) who died holding an machete and later on we see him as a walker with the sword in hand. That was probably more of a plot device than anything definitive though.

 

[Shelley_c]

I think when all is said and done writers are human and there's bound to be some conflicts, mistakes made. For example, Michonne covered in walkers guts which caused the infected not to attack her as she clung onto the prison fence. But in previous episodes, and i'm 99% sure about this, Rick and members of the team when on frenzied attacks covered in blood and guts but were still being attacked. I think this is to do with errors and goofs in the script and since we're all walking dead fanatics here we will spot those little inconsistence from someone that may watch an episode or two.

 

[Nymph]

Well I've read the wiki a few times and they say walkers have a mob mentality and well...they do. XD So if one walker sees another one do something, they are gonna do the same or mistake it for something else and attack whatever it is. So when a walker sees another walker attacking someone, even if they are covered in guts, they are gonna see that as an attempt to get "food" and will join in. You are right though with the mistakes, everyone makes mistakes and I am probably putting too much thought into it. XD

 

[ernestdefoe]

I think when all is said and done writers are human and there's bound to be some conflicts, mistakes made. For example, Michonne covered in walkers guts which caused the infected not to attack her as she clung onto the prison fence. But in previous episodes, and i'm 99% sure about this, Rick and members of the team when on frenzied attacks covered in blood and guts but were still being attacked. I think this is to do with errors and goofs in the script and since we're all walking dead fanatics here we will spot those little inconsistence from someone that may watch an episode or two.

The instance you are talking about Shelley is when they went back for Merle or something like that and Rick and Glenn went to get a truck to get a way out of town. They put the guts and stuff on them and the walkers were leaving them alone until it started raining which was washing the stuff off of them. That's how the walkers knew they were there.

 

[Kevin]

I am in the midst of rewatching every episode of The Walking Dead and an episode of season 2 made me think of this topic. While searching for Sophia the group comes across a church because of the ringing church bells playing. Inside of the church they find three walkers sitting in the pews facing the front altar. They weren't just randomly in the building, they were seated in the middle of the pews & facing forward. They weren't incapable of moving as they had no problems standing up after hearing the church doors open.

I couldn't help but wonder if somewhere in what was left of their brains they were hearing hearing the pastor delivering a Sunday sermon on a permanent loop.

 

[Callysta]

From the Resident Evil, zombies have some memory but no intelligence. I'm guessing it's the same for The Walking Dead.