Manriquez !

1 Jessica Manriquez Professor Lynda Haas Writing 37 24 November 2013 World War Z : The Atypical Novel Although there are many forms a piece of literature can exist, a novel is certainly the most common method used for fictional pieces. A novel is an invented prose narrative of considerable length and a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience, usually through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting (Burgess). Novels as described in their definition, tend to be about a person or a group of people and follows closely the fictional events that take place within the characters surroundings. The setting of a novel tends to be the same throughout the entire novel or maybe a few different settings. The format is also very similar in all novels which usually constitutes of the novel being broken apart into chapters and each chapter describes a particular event or stage that the characters had to go through and there is always a form of transitioning from chapter to chapter. Although these characteristics are the most commonly seen in literature pieces categorized as novels, Max Brooks took a new approach in the format of his own novel, World War Z. Max Brooks novel, World War Z approaches the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in a way never seen before in the world of literature. This novels targeted audience is young people, so Brooks wrote in a very new and fresh way which grabs the young readers attention without confusion and in a way not common in the world of literature. World War Z is categorized in the zombie genre due to its common topic in the modern world, but is presented in a manner that is

Manriquez !2 much more than any ordinary zombie media by critiquing some of the most common social and political issues faced by people all around the world. What makes this novel so different than other works categorized in the zombie genre is that it is able to transport the reader all over the world looking at the true outcomes of a fictional apocalypse and really defines the true meaning of an apocalypse (Hasan). Brooks not only truly defined an apocalypse, but in addition went against the habitual organization of a novel. The method Brooks uses to organize World War Z is highly clever and unconventional for the novel genre. Without following the usual novel format, he is able to convince the audience that the events described in the novel are real rather than fictional (Book Review: World War Z). Brooks uses interviews to bring his novel together and separates them into sections by commonalities amongst them and is able to avoid causing confusion for the reader by going from section to section by transitioning in a way that is reasonable and ordering the interviews in a manner that points out the common points among each interview, although they might have taken place on opposite poles of the planet. Brooks organized World War Z into a compilation of interviews of people all around the globe who had some relation to the fictional zombie apocalypse this novel discusses. The story is introduced with the interviewer who is mandated by the United Nations to produce a report of various accounts of survivors and their personal experiences. The interviewer plays the crucial role of keeping the novel going and also gives the audience a source of judgement for each interviewee although it is not intentional. A place where Brooks smoothly transitions from one interview to the next is in the last interview in the section titled Warnings and it leads to the first interview of the next section titled Blame and for the most part all the interviews in that section. The last interview in Warnings is

Manriquez !3 about a young man and his family who have no choice but to trust and obey their governments orders even if they and the other civilians are not given any background knowledge as to why these orders are being given. This interview is taking place in Betlehem, Palestine where a lot of historical grudges are shown throughout the main character in this interview, and he represents a typical palestinian who holds an immense hatred against the typical enemies of his people, the Israelis. How can you possibly believe that kind of foolishness, especially when it comes from your most hated enemy (Brooks 37)? The main character in this interview is a young man who is rebellious when his father tells him that him and his family will do as the government says and go into voluntary quarantine. He talks back to his father asking why they must trust the government and not try to protect themselves in another way. At the end he follows through with the governments orders and his fathers decision. This interview not only shows the hostilities between Palestine and Israel, but shows the struggles of civilians trusting their government without really understanding a situation. The first interview in the section, Blame, and pretty much all the interviews in that section are about government officials and how they handled the situation of The Crisis when it reached their country. The first interview in this section is with the director of the CIA and how he reacted when the situation reached his ears, although this is the United States which is a country very different from Palestine, they both have a government responsible for their own civilians. The CIA official tells the interviewer how it is always the governments fault when something goes wrong according to many civilians and so they have to come up with ways to make the people feel secure and trust the CIA. This interview gives the reader the perspective of a government official instead of a civilian.

Manriquez !4 The main difference between the two interviews is that one is in the perspective of a Palestinian civilian and the other is in the point of view of an American government official. This allows the audience to refer to both points of view, a civilian and a government official. Most of the interviews in Blame are about people and their first account of how they came to know what The Crisis was about. On the other hand, the interviews in Warnings are about governments and how they dealt with The Crisis in order to make their people believe they were safe. Although these two interviews are in different sections and they describe events that took place on different parts of the planet, Brooks keeps his novel clear by doing this smooth transitioning from section to section. The transitioning method Max Brooks uses to move from section to section is cleverly done which allows the reader to completely grasp and understand the plot of the novel. Although World War Z is classified as a novel, Brooks skillfully takes a new approach to format his own and by doing so is able to transport the reader all over the globe without losing the reader in the midst of the multiple interviews with characters from various cultural backgrounds. Brooks unique novel format was greatly praised by many literature professionals and was chosen to be made into a major film production which turned out to be very different than the novel, but nevertheless a great realistic film about zombies, World War Z opens with an undeniable bang. But if this is the way the world ends, we're going out with a whimper(Rodriguez).

! ! ! !

Manriquez !5 Works Cited "Book Review: World War Z." The Lesser of Two Equals. N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://thelesseroftwoequals.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/book-review-world-war-z/>. Brooks, Max. World War Z. 1st ed. New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2006. Print. Burgess, Anthony. "Novel." 2103. <http://www.britannica.com>. Hasan, Zaki. "Zaki's Review: World War Z." Huffington Post. Media Scholars and Critic, 28 Jun 2013. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zaki-hasan/zakis-reviewiworld-war-z_b_3518078.html>. Rodriguez, Rene. World War Z (PG-13)." Review. Weblog post. Miami.com. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. <http://www.miami.com/039world-war-z039-pg-13-article>.a