World War Z Literary Elements

An apocalyptic horror novel

The action takes place all over the world. The interviewer visits different countries and cities, where he finds the information about W orld War Z.

The narrator is a first person, but it is unknown if the author of this book retell s the information about his report. The book consists of small interviews, during which the narrator gets to know about World War Z.

The tone is documentary, because of the narrator’s report. The mood is rather psychological, because eyewitnesses of the war remember the past and it is very emotionally difficult for them to speak about it.

The protagonists are people who want to build a peaceful future. The antagonists are zombies.

The major conflicts happens between the society and zombies, which attack people . This conflict is a war, during which many people die and many beasts are born. This conflict shows the real behavior and feelings of ordinary people and government.

The climax happens when each eyewitness completes his/ her interview and expresses all emotions and the reality of World War Z. They tell the truth about the war.

The book title is the main foreshadowing of the book. The letter “Z” has the encrypted meaning of the word “Zombies” that is “World War Z”. It foreshadows that the book is about the zombie apocalypse.

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The book alludes to
- many historical events: The Attack on Pearl Harbor, The Black Death, World War II, The Civil War etc.;
- famous historical personalities: Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fidel Castro, Winston Churchill etc.;
- many different kinds of weapons: Kalashnikov a.k.a. the AK-47 Assault Rifle, Molotov Cocktail, BMP-1 Tank, Marder Tank, Beretta M9 Semi-automatic Pistol, T-72 Tank, RVX Chemical Weapon etc.

Widely used in environment descriptions

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“The government” is a metonymy as it stands for all officials and deputies, who promise to help people, but eventually they do not perform their duties.

The war personifies fear, death, torments.
The weapon personifies protection.
The infection “zombification” personifies death and pain.