In the novel Severance, the protagonist is Candace, who was born in China and who emigrated with her Chinese parents to the U.S. At the start of the novel, she is living in New York City, where she works in the Bible section of a publishing house. She is about to work her way up to the fashion department when there is an outbreak of Shen Fever, which causes those infected to turn into mindless zombie-like creatures – the “fevered”. To survive, she joins a group and takes refuge with them in a shopping mall. It would seem that the outbreak prevents Candace from achieving her dream. I, however, would prefer to argue that it actually offers her – a Chinese immigrant woman trying to succeed under the constraints of societal law and order – a chance to break free.
In this paper, I analyze this novel from the point of view of the law to see how Candace, in her pursuit of freedom, breaks the laws of the old world. The white male antagonist, Bob, is the embodiment of the law, leading the group into refuge and using the law to control Candace. The zombie-apocalypse represents the second chance for Candace to find utopia in dystopia.