Ling Ma's "Severance" Serves as an All-Too-Real Reminder of What the Apocalypse Could Bring
Ling Ma’s Post-Apocalyptic Novel, "Severance", feels more timely now than it did when it was released in 2018. Focusing on overarching themes like zombies, immigration, capitalism, and global health, Ling Ma manages to capture that absolute essence of what the apocalypse may actually look like in New York City.
In her debut novel, Ma details the redundant life of New York City millennial, Candace Chen, following a superstorm and an epidemic that turns people into walking zombies. Shen Fever is the fictional illness in the novel; it spreads out of Shenzhen, China, which also happens to be the global capital of electronics production. Shen Fever starts off slowly, with most people not even realizing that they’re fevered, but as time passes, the fever turns them into zombies that endlessly perform their daily tasks, even as their bodies physically decay, until they eventually die.
“Severance” taps into the idea that working a mundane office job, while simultaneously remaining overwhelmed by the overabundance and consumption culture doesn’t make the uninfected all that different from the fevered. Candace is a perfect example of this.
The novel starts out with Candace’s present-day; she is with a group of survivors ― they’re believed to be the only ones still alive ― and they are making their way towards “The Facility”, or the place where they are presumably going to live, as dubbed by their group leader, Bob, a former IT guy and an insufferable character with a power complex.
From here, each chapter bounces back and forth, outlining details of Candace’s childhood in China before coming to the United States, her life in NYC pre-Shen Fever, and her life after the epidemic practically wiped out the entire city.
Candace’s narration also hits upon the feelings of being a first generation immigrant. In reference to New York City, Ling Ma writes “most people have already lived, in some sense, in the public imagination, before they ever arrive.” This becomes particularly true for Candace after she moves from Utah following the death of her parents. New York City simply does not turn out to be the idealistic reality that she had created in her head.
Further, “Severance” follows processes of gentrification and privilege in the form of Candace’s relationship with her white-boyfriend, Jonathan. Strictly anti-capitalist and an unwilling member of the economy, Jonathan ends up leaving New York at the beginning of the epidemic, not because of the fever, but because he instead wants to remove himself further from the consumerist culture. Candace is less sure of his theories and how easy it seems to be for him to annex himself from society, and they end up splitting when he leaves New York and she refuses to go with him.
As New York continues to deteriorate underneath Candace’s feet, she still goes to work everyday, until eventually, she is the only person in the building. Soon thereafter, she actually goes so far as to move into the office, bringing her bare necessities and abandoning her apartment in Brooklyn, a last-ditch effort to eliminate her commute, as much of the city’s infrastructure and transportation has stopped functioning.
Candace’s dedication to her job stems less from a love of her work, and more out of the comfort that a daily routine provides her with. In this manner, the lines that differentiate her from those that have been fevered become less distinct as time passes.
Part of her ability to stay in New York for so long after the city has been taken over by the fevered is because it’s the only place that has ever actually felt like a home to her. Before she is forced to flee, she updates her photography blog, “NY Ghost”, symbolically detailing the comfort she feels within the city, and after realizing she is the only uninfected person left, she eventually departs in a yellow taxi, serving as more symbolism that, even though she’s leaving her home behind, part of it will always be with her.
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| The cover of "Severance" by Ling Ma |
In her debut novel, Ma details the redundant life of New York City millennial, Candace Chen, following a superstorm and an epidemic that turns people into walking zombies. Shen Fever is the fictional illness in the novel; it spreads out of Shenzhen, China, which also happens to be the global capital of electronics production. Shen Fever starts off slowly, with most people not even realizing that they’re fevered, but as time passes, the fever turns them into zombies that endlessly perform their daily tasks, even as their bodies physically decay, until they eventually die.
“Severance” taps into the idea that working a mundane office job, while simultaneously remaining overwhelmed by the overabundance and consumption culture doesn’t make the uninfected all that different from the fevered. Candace is a perfect example of this.
The novel starts out with Candace’s present-day; she is with a group of survivors ― they’re believed to be the only ones still alive ― and they are making their way towards “The Facility”, or the place where they are presumably going to live, as dubbed by their group leader, Bob, a former IT guy and an insufferable character with a power complex.
From here, each chapter bounces back and forth, outlining details of Candace’s childhood in China before coming to the United States, her life in NYC pre-Shen Fever, and her life after the epidemic practically wiped out the entire city.
Candace’s narration also hits upon the feelings of being a first generation immigrant. In reference to New York City, Ling Ma writes “most people have already lived, in some sense, in the public imagination, before they ever arrive.” This becomes particularly true for Candace after she moves from Utah following the death of her parents. New York City simply does not turn out to be the idealistic reality that she had created in her head.
Further, “Severance” follows processes of gentrification and privilege in the form of Candace’s relationship with her white-boyfriend, Jonathan. Strictly anti-capitalist and an unwilling member of the economy, Jonathan ends up leaving New York at the beginning of the epidemic, not because of the fever, but because he instead wants to remove himself further from the consumerist culture. Candace is less sure of his theories and how easy it seems to be for him to annex himself from society, and they end up splitting when he leaves New York and she refuses to go with him.
As New York continues to deteriorate underneath Candace’s feet, she still goes to work everyday, until eventually, she is the only person in the building. Soon thereafter, she actually goes so far as to move into the office, bringing her bare necessities and abandoning her apartment in Brooklyn, a last-ditch effort to eliminate her commute, as much of the city’s infrastructure and transportation has stopped functioning.
Candace’s dedication to her job stems less from a love of her work, and more out of the comfort that a daily routine provides her with. In this manner, the lines that differentiate her from those that have been fevered become less distinct as time passes.
Part of her ability to stay in New York for so long after the city has been taken over by the fevered is because it’s the only place that has ever actually felt like a home to her. Before she is forced to flee, she updates her photography blog, “NY Ghost”, symbolically detailing the comfort she feels within the city, and after realizing she is the only uninfected person left, she eventually departs in a yellow taxi, serving as more symbolism that, even though she’s leaving her home behind, part of it will always be with her.
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