"What's left of us? What's at our core, then?"

"What is left of us? ...What's at our core, then? What's still squirming in our bones when everything else is stripped?"(p. 138)

In Warm Bodies, it is seemed apparent how the three main groups of "humans" (Living, Undead and Boneys) comments on themes of what it means to be alive and provides a critique on humanity. As discussed in sections and in class, being "alive" means more than just surviving but also we need connection and sentiment, among other complex human needs. In this way, that's what it means to be uniquely human and to "be alive," otherwise we become un-human when all that is left is pure instinct and survival.
It was interesting to see how Isaac Marion characterized the Boneys in the novel. They appeared to be the manifestation of the lowest level of humanity reached when all the things that make us human and alive, such as sentiment and connection, are disregarded and buried deep down in the face of hopelessness or desperate situations. Julie realizes that the origins of the Boneys are not "any spell of virus or nuclear rays" (p. 199), but from within us: "we crushed ourselves down over the centuries. Buried ourselves under greed and hate and whatever other sins we could find our souls finally hit the rock bottom of the universe. And then they scraped a hole through it, into some...dark place." (p. 199). I believe Marion distinguishes the Boneys for true deadness in this manner.
Marion further plays with the notions of what it means to be "alive" between the "Living" humans and the Undead between R's and Mr. Grigio's characters. We can see R's flexibility of moving between the ideas of alive and dead, compared to Mr. Grigio who is pragmatic and unwavering to his own idea of what it means to be alive (surviving). This makes Mr. Grigio more like the Boneys because the Boneys have set black and white ideas over what it means to be dead that should not deviate. In this case, the zombie is more alive than the living because R acts on his emotions, not instincts, and takes steps to compromise and better of his situation rather than just surviving and self-preservation in the face of hopelessness. I think Marion’s main point on this is that humanity must keep moving forward, evolving not just biologically but mentally and emphasizing the importance of finding ways to stay alive, not stagnant, on the inside. This is more meaningful because "memory can't overtake the present; history has its limits. Are we all just Dark Age doctors, swearing by our leeches? We crave a greater science. We want to be proven wrong (p. 190).