How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I asked the villagers who had been taking care of these people. They said no one, it wasn't "safe." I noticed that the door had been locked from the outside. The villagers were clearly terrified. They cringed and whispered; some kept their distance and prayed. (2.1.6)
Terror, up-rooted lives, death, and upset-stomach syndrome are the usual side effects that accompany nasty change. It's also the first flavor of change we taste in the novel.
Quote #2
In order to test for something, you have to know what you're looking for. We didn't know about Walking Plague then. We were concerned with conventional ailments—hepatitis or HIV/AIDS—and we didn't even have time to test for those. (2.4.5)
During the spread of the zombie plague, change was perhaps the number one weapon on the zombie's side. If you aren't ready for the change, you can't prepare for it. (If you're wondering, the inability to feel pain and their teeth come in as the zombies' number two and three weapons.
Quote #3
Most people don't believe something can happen until it already has. That's no stupidity or weakness, that's just human nature. I don't blame anyone for not believing (2.6.2)
But why is resisting change human nature? Change happens to us all the time, so why are we always surprised when it occurs? Is it part of our survival makeup? A psychological thing? We aren't asking rhetorical questions here: we really, really want to know.
Quote #4
We didn't lose the last brushfire conflict, far from it. We actually accomplished a very difficult task with very few resources and under extremely unfavorable circumstances. We won, but the public didn't see it that way because it wasn't the blitzkrieg smackdown that our national spirit demanded. (3.2.22)
When life doesn't live up to our expectations, you'd think we'd just roll with the punches and move on. Do we? Sometimes, but other times these changes can be debilitating. This quote shows a real-life example of this type of change. Other examples include expecting dead relatives to stay dead rather than returning in deadly undead form.
Quote #5
Looking back, I still can't believe how unprofessional the news media was. So much spin, so few hard facts. All those digestible sound bites from an army of "experts" all contradicting one another, all trying to seem more "shocking" and "in depth" than the last one. (5.4.4)
Then again, some things never change—global zombie invasion or not. Looks like news media is one of them.
Quote #6
We had our share of religious fundamentalists, what country didn't? Many of them believed that we were, in some way, interfering with God's will. (6.2.18)
How are religions affected by such worldwide change? Do they stay true to their core and adapt at the periphery? Do they reinterpret their beliefs? World War Z offers plenty of these types of questions throughout the book for you to consider.
Quote #7
Well, as I understand it, there's a type of person who just can't deal with a fight-or-die situation. They're always drawn to what they're afraid of. Instead of resisting it, they want to please it, join it, try to be like it. I guess that happens in kidnap situations, you know, like a Patty Hearst/Stockholm Syndrome-type, or, like in regular war, when people who are invaded sign up for the enemy's army. (6.3.22)
Change meets the theme of "Primitivity" in this quote. Our hypothalamus has developed what's called a flight-or-fight response. If we come across something fearful (i.e. nasty change), we must decide whether to fight it or run away, including zombies and devilish bunnies.
Quote #8
These detainees would do the jobs Cubanos no longer wanted—day laborers, dish washers, and street cleaners—and while their wages would be next to nothing […]. (7.6.18)
The zombies don't just change how humans have to survive in the world. They change global economics and politics as well. Depending on where you live, this change can be either nasty or tasty.
Quote #9
The long, hard road back to humanity, or the regressive ennui of Earth's once-proud primates. That was the choice, and it had to be made now. (7.9.11)
The flight-or-fight response to change returns, but this time with a bigger scope: is humanity as a whole going to fight back, or is it just going to turn tail and flee?
Quote #10
Eventually the voices woke me up; everyone jawing, laughing, telling stories. It was a different vibe, one-eighty from two days ago. I couldn't really put a finger on what I was feeling, maybe it was what the president said about "reclaiming our future." I just knew I felt good, better than I had the entire war. (8.2.47)
And here's the good change: as many a video game player can tell you, nothing tastes better than victory over an army of fleshbags.