Book Analysis of World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z, written by Max Brooks, is an apocalyptic novel that follows an interviewer on a quest to piece together the global history twelve years after the zombie apocalypse that came to be know as “The Dark Years”. This novel is said to be an “oral history” because the plot is structured around the personal experiences around the world that is documented by an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission. For the majority, oral histories are seen as beneficial because they allow for a unique perspective in historical records that readers do not usually get a sense of in a basic textbook. In order for one to understand its critical influence in this novel and its plot structure, it is important for readers to fully grasp what exactly

If you are anticipating the newest episode of The Walking Dead each week, then you will love the movie World War Z. World War Z was released in the United Stated on the 21st of June, 2013 and was produced by several production companies, including Plan B which is owned by the leading actor, Brad Pitt. The movie grossed over 500 million dollars and is based on a book by the same title, written by Max Brooks ("World War Z (2013)"; Fleming Jr.). World War Z has all the makings of a good action film.

Zombies have been around since George A. Romero first introduced them in the movie Night of the Living Dead in 1968. However, over the past decade, the American public’s interest in zombies has skyrocketed, especially in media culture. Since the year 2000, over one-hundred and fifty zombie movies have hit the screens of the American people. Furthermore, countless zombie themed video games, books, comics, and television shows have also entered into American society. There are even zombie themed 5k races, parades, and events of all kinds surfacing across American cities. Surprisingly, “Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have gotten into the act. In May 2011, the CDC posted a small item on its blog about what to do if the dead should rise from the grave to feast upon the entrails of the living. Within two hours, it had gone viral; the CDC's Web server crashed from the surge in traffic,” (Drezner). America is, no doubt, experiencing a zombie craze, but the big question remaining is “why?” Why is the undead taking over our lives, and why have so many other areas of American culture been so eager to jump on this frightening bandwagon? What is it about our culture that stimulates our interest in zombies?

Though fictional, this novel illustrates the fear surrounding disease, viruses, and contamination and how if uncontrollable, could lead to a global spread that could jeopardize the human race. Traveling internationally, World War Z represents a zombie epidemic that brings forth infection, which can be considered an unconscious actor during this time of confusion and destruction. Scientifically, fear is defined as a natural response found in almost all organisms that revolve around the emotions and feelings induced by perceived threats and danger. Max Brooks illustrates the societal interaction with fear, “Fear of aging, fear of loneliness, fear of poverty, fear of failure. Fear is the most basic emotion we have. Fear is primal. Fear sells. That was my mantra. ‘Fear sells.’” (Brooks 55). The fear of a zombie virus spreading in fact just produces more fear into the mind of the individual. Through research and scientific advancements, fears and anxieties have been proven to put an individual more at risk of developing health issues. How ironic, right? Our fears and anxieties surrounding diseases and the spread of them cause our society to be more susceptible to obtain and contract more health related problems. The fight against the zombie metaphor within World War Z gives the reader a purpose for finding a way to hold

In interviews with Max Brooks he shares how he got the experiences and ideas for his zombie writings. Brooks used his dad’s war stories and transformed them for his stories on zombies. In an interview with Brooks he told us that “And my father’s war stories I thought were interesting not because of the combat element but the smaller things” (Empire). In his stories he is detailed on how everyone feels and their experiences because of his dad’s detailed war stories. When Brooks was asked if he picked up his interest in the period from his dads stories of the time he replied with, “It’s those minutiae that have always driven me to be as detail-oriented as possible” (Empire). Brooks has always had a passion for zombies and believes there will be a zombie apoca...

World War Z (2013), directed by Marc Forster was a story about a former investigator named Gerry lane, played by Brad Pitt, who worked for the United Nations who was called back into duty to investigate the plague of a mysterious infection. The human population was turning into zombies that were going on a rampage and biting and killing anyone they came across. The movie started out showing Lane’s family living a content lifestyle and as they were heading out for the day, they ran into massive amounts of traffic and all of a sudden the chaos began. Lane and his family were in the car sitting in stand-still traffic when they saw people running for their lives while being attacked by the zombies. Throughout the movie, Lane and his family were trying to survive and escape the chaos by hiding and waiting for the government to come and pick them up and take them to safety. Once they were safe, Lane was sent back in the field to try and find out the cause of the outbreak. This is one of many zombie films today but compared to other films, this one was a little different.

“Zombie killings are similar to reading and deleting 400 work e-mails on a Monday morning or filling out paperwork that only generates more paperwork, or following Twitter gossip out of obligation, or performing tedious tasks in which the only true risk is being consumed by avalanche” (41). These are all similar to zombie killings because zombies will never go away unless you turn to really harsh tactics like aiming for one’s brain with a shot gun and repeating this for every zombie you come in contact with. In order to clear those 400 emails after reading them you must repeat the steps for each and every one, which is time consuming and can be very frustrating. Completing paperwork is very tedious, and can sometimes become overwhelming you may begin to feel as if it will never end which is common well it can feel similar to that when it comes to zombie killings as well because there will be one zombie followed by another one and many more to come. “Battling zombies is like battling anything….. Or everything” (42). Never assume the war is over because it is not, there will be one or more zombies hiding out, the war is never over. “The zombies you kill today will merely be replaced by the zombies of tomorrow” (44). Zombies are a “live-stock” they are brain dead but they travel in packs and have no limit as to how far they will go. In the movie Dawn of the Dead the zombies actually

...ash, chemical spill and the advancing, life-threatening black cloud, simulated evacuation, drug dealings, dangerous side effects of the drugs, killings and sex, rampart consumerism, underground conspiracies and human-made disasters etc. Such topics represent the concept of zombie culture.

How many times have you been scared awake by zombies after watching shows or reading comics? Zombies, a particular group of survival horror, are basically dead people who come back to us in an evil way. From novels to Hollywood films, we look like cowards who are repeatedly scared by zombies. How can we still get shocks in this age of scientific society? The answer is that zombies come back with cultural messages in stories, which express our extraordinary fears. Such a horrible story was created by Kirkman, in The Walking Dead he depicted zombies as a horrible metaphor for xenophobia by combining fear of otherness with infectious disease; as a result, fear of contagion fuses with our fear of outsiders, increasing the unequal treatment of immigrants in contemporary society.

World War Z, a 2006 post-apocalyptic horror novel written by Max Brooks, displays the human struggle for survival following a deadly zombie pandemic. Structured as a collection of interviews, the nameless narrator travels around the globe to talk to those whose lives were irreparably changed when the zombie virus began to invade their lives and takes into account their personal reactions, beliefs, and motivations. Brooks’ use of such a genre to comment on real-life issues is nothing new. The horror genre has long been used to imbed a social or political commentary or critique through the use of monsters; it is through these monsters that we see the worst or most ridiculous aspects of ourselves and our way of living. Zombies, specifically, act