The Walking Dead is chock full of blood and guts. One of the most remarkable aspects of the series is that the humans have quickly become the scariest thing that survivors encounter. Through the show’s six seasons, the survivors, along with the audience, have become more wary of new people as the apocalypse has brought out the animalistic nature of humans. However, there are a few characters in the series who have refused to let the darkness of the new world take them over. One of these more hopeful survivors is Glenn Rhee, who has been with us since The Walking Dead’s pilot. Thus far Glenn has yet to take a human life, which is saying a lot considering how many living foes the group has faced so far. Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn, recently opened up regarding his character’s apparent humanity, saying:
And part of that is echoing from the last season, the idea that sometimes we can be out there too long, and that we can completely lose ourselves. And to that extent as well, there’s the fact that Glenn has not killed another human being as of yet, and it’s not from a place of Glenn saying, 'I can never do that,' but it’s more along the lines of Glenn has not faced a situation where he’s been forced to. And if he isn’t forced to, he chooses not to, because I think for him, he’s trying to preserve a part of himself to say that anything that I do, I want to be able to look my kid in the eye and say, 'Hey, I lived this way, and I’m still here. So you can live this way, and you can still be here as well.' I think everything’s kind of a prep for this kid, and so, yeah, I mean, that’s kind of where they’re at right now with the baby.
This statement, given to EW, is pretty eye-opening as far as Glenn’s morals go. It’s not that he absolutely won’t kill a living person, but he’s simply trying to avoid it as long as he can.
With so many struggles against people already in The Walking Dead’s canon, it is pretty surprising that Glenn hasn’t killed at least one person. Glenn’s lack of homicide was highlighted first during the Church massacre from last season. When it was clear that Gareth and the surviving Terminus residents weren’t going to stop until they killed and ate the group, a trap was laid and Rick, Michonne, Sasha, and Abraham killed the group. Glenn, on the other hand, was part of the group that watched in disgust.
Glenn’s humanity was further shown during last season’s finale. When Nicholas attempted to murder him in the woods, he managed to not only fight him off, but not kill the Alexandria resident in self-defense. Instead, he buried the hatchet and the two returned to the safe-zone together.
Morality is clearly a tricky thing during the zombie apocalypse. With Glenn retaining some moral compass during these dark times, he and Maggie seem like the perfect people to bring new life into the world.
The Walking Dead will return to AMC on February 14th. Happy Valentine’s Day to us all.
