World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, written by Max
Brookes, is a novel that provides a diverse complexity of themes that all seem
to be perpetuated by fear. Fear of being eaten, fear of dying, fear of
infection, fear of the unknown, fear of others, fear of death, all encompassed
in this novel. As many of us zombie fanatics would love to be thrown into a full-blown
zombie apocalypse, I think that the majority of people would be pretty scared.
A subtle theme that I picked up while reading this novel was how people had
lost their sense of societal embodiment, and how they regained their primitivism
for self-survival. Here, I am going to analyze aspects of Max Brookes, Would War Z: An Oral History of the
Zombie War, and how the use of fear and time perpetuated the primitivism
for self-survival.
In this novel, we see many different
perspectives that each respond to the zombie apocalypse in a unique manor.
However, what is important to realize is that these people had unique reactions
based on their roles in society. The first instance Brookes's use of primitivism
for self-survival could be in Antarctica when the narrator was interviewing
Mister Scott, the inventor of Phalanx, about the zombie pseudo-cure that
ultimately didn't work. Mister Scott states, "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'" (69).
Mister Scott is seen as an entrepreneur of sorts as he capitalizes on the fear
of the people and how they will do anything to get their hands on this drug.
Mister Scott states, "But a vaccine! That's preventative! People will keep
taking that as long as they're afraid its out there!"(69). As long as
people thought that they were going to get infected, they would keep getting
Phalanx at any cost. At the root of things, it seems like societal norms are
still in balance. Capitalism is still embedded into these peoples'
consciousness. Why would people that are faced with impending zombification,
still be so cool about spending money, and not stealing it off the shelves?
Bruno S. Frey et al 2010 analyzed the survival patterns of two different naval
disasters of the mid 1910's in their study, Interaction
of natural survival instincts and internalized social norms exploring the
Titanic and Lusitania Disasters. What
they discovered was that, "time pressure appears to be crucial when
explaining behavior under extreme conditions of life and death" (Bruno S.
Frey et all 2010). Their study correlated the sinking times (Titanic 2h 40m
& Lusitania 18m) affected the rationality of their corresponding
passengers. They concluded that those passengers on the Titanic acted more
civil and "adhere [d] to social norms and social status (class)
dominated"(Bruno S. Frey et al 2010). The time frame of the narrators and
Mister Scott's interview takes place well before the infection hit the United
States. People had more time to react to the news of the spread of this new
virus, thus still adhering to the social norms that they were used to.
Conversely we see the opposite reaction in a life
and death situation in Montana, with Mary Jo Miller. Mary Jo was Troy's, chief
architect, and first mayor during the "New community for the New
America" movement (79-80). On a normal evening after work, she had her
first experience with the zombie outbreak. At first, she hadn't given it much
consideration, but now it was first hand in her house and she had to react in a
moments notice. Mary Jo states, "I... I'm not totally sure. when I try to
remember, everything goes by too fast. I had it by the neck. I squeezed hard...pilled...the
kids say I tore the thing's head off. just ripped it right out with all the
flesh and muscle and whatever else hanging in tatters"(84). Mary Jo had no
time to sit and think about what to do because her daughter’s life was hanging
in the balance, and if she didn't react, she would've lost her daughter. In
Bruno S. Frey et al study, they state, "on the Lusitania, selfish behavior
prevailed. The fact that the Lusitania sank in 18 min, creating a situation in
which the short-run flight impulse dominated behavior". Many social scientists
assume that the middle of a life-and-death situation, the more selfish
behaviors become prevalent. "The social contract is thrown away, and each
man single-mindedly attempt to save his own life at whatever cost to others"
(Bruno S. Frey et al 2010). Obviously, Mary Jo had little time to react to her
daughter being attacked, everything that she had ever been taught had been
thrown out the window, and at the expense of that zombies head, fought for her
daughters survival.
As stated in the novel, "fear is he most
valuable commodity in the universe"(69). Brookes uses fear in a multitude
of fashions to drive many themes throughout his novel. Basic human survival is
something I believe was a subtle aspect in this novel that can surely be
expanded on in the future. The subconscious behavior in times when life dangles
in the balance are usually not addressed in popular society today and the
corresponding research analyzed was good evidence on how people react
differently given different time constraints.
Works cited
Brooks, Max. World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War. Cemetery Dance Publications, 2014.
Frey, B. S., et al. “Interaction of Natural Survival Instincts and Internalized Social Norms Exploring the Titanic and Lusitania Disasters.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 107, no. 11, 2010, pp. 4862–4865., doi:10.1073/pnas.0911303107.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteWWZ is by far one of my favorite books. I think you are right by your post. Fear has a definite impact on people and creating a large culture of fear in a large population is definitely marketable. I find it curious how people react to fears that they had not considered before such as Mary Jo. She did not truly know if Phalanx worked but continued to buy it and give it to her family. Come face to face with a zombie unleashed her survival instincts and need to protect her family at all costs.
-Aly H