How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I though I was ready for anything. [He looks out at the valley, his eyes unfocused.] Who in his right mind could have been ready for this?
MacDonald's skirmish with the undead makes him the first military victim of World War Z. No, he didn't die, but posttraumatic stress disorder and the distrust of his own country provides its own kind of victimhood. While not as permanent as death, it's still an awful thing.
Quote #2
Well, after almost allowing the Arabs to finish what Hitler started, we realized that not only was that mirror image necessary, but it must forever be our national policy. From 1973 onward, if nine intelligence analysts came to the same conclusion, it was the duty of the tenth to disagree. No matter how unlikely or far-fetched a possibility might be, one must always dig deeper. (2.6.8)
Warfare certainly produces an awful history of suffering. But for Israel, the silver lining—the really thin silver lining—is that it can prepare you for some pretty awful times to come.
Quote #3
[The PRC] realized that the best way to mask what they were doing was to hide it in plain sight. Instead of lying about the sweeps themselves, they just lied about what they were sweeping for. (3.1.8)
"All war is deception," said Sun Tzu. "People might think you're crazy if you tell them you're hunting zombies," said Shmoop Tzu.
Quote #4
In totalitarian regimes—communism, fascism, religious fundamentalism—popular support is a given. You can start wars, you can prolong them, you can put anyone in uniform for any length of time without ever having to worry about the slightest political backlash. In a democracy, the polar opposite is true. Public support must be husbanded as a finite national resource. (3.2.22)
One could make the mistake of assuming war resources equal soldiers and the ammunition they need to shot. At least, we do when playing Call of Duty. But World War Z doesn't forget that public opinion can be just as finite a resource as bullets.
Quote #5
From that moment on we lived in true freedom, the freedom to point to someone else and say "They told me to do it! It's their fault, not mine." The freedom, God help us, to say "I was only following orders." (4.4.31)
Many a solider must decide whether or not to follow orders in World War Z. It's a problem we must all face in our lives, although thankfully—in most cases—without the deadly and horrific consequences present in wartime.
Quote #6
That sound like the enemy we were about to go up against? Was Zack now calling in air strikes and fire missions? And why the hell were we worried about concealment when the whole point of the battle was to get Zack to come directly at us! So backasswards! All of it! (4.7.8)
In World War I, tactics lagged way behind the technology. In other words, people were fighting with machines and mustard gas like they were still using flintlock pistols. In World War Z, the tactics didn't devolve to properly meet the enemy. Got to love those ironic twists.
Quote #7
Ask anyone how the Allies won the Second World War. Those with very little knowledge might answer that it was our numbers or generalship. Those without any knowledge might point to techno-marvels like radar or the atom bomb. [Scowls.] Anyone with the most rudimentary understanding of that conflict will give you three real reasons: […]. (6.1.18)
Military aficionados love their technology (again, check out our "Shout-outs" section). In World War Z, the higher-up needed to relearn the basics and focus a little less on the big, flashy, extra bang of superior tech.
Quote #8
Did [the film] show the dark side of the heroes in The Hero City? Did it show the violence and the betrayal, the cruelty, the depravity, the bottomless evil in some of those "heroes" hearts? No, of course not. Why would it? That was our reality and it's what drove so many people to get snuggled in bed, blow out their candles, and take their last breath. (6.4.58)
World War Z shows a bit of the relationship between warfare and art. In this case, some art rose-tints the horrific nature of war. Here's the thing: World War Z is a piece of art, so its commentary on war and art is subject to the same criticism.
Quote #9
In war, in a conventional war that is, we spend so much time trying to dehumanize the enemy, to create an emotional distance. We would make up stories or derogatory titles… when I think about what my father used to call Muslims… and now in this war it seemed that everyone was trying desperately to find some shred of a connection to their enemy, to put a human face on something that was so unmistakably inhuman. (7.2.10)
By dehumanizing the enemy, traditional war propaganda tries to make the populace hate the enemy, sometimes for aspects the enemy has no control over like race. But things aren't so simple when your enemy is your people, only more dead.
Quote #10
That is the nature of human warfare, two sides trying to push the other past its limit of endurance, and no matter how much we like to talk about total war, that limit is always there… unless you're the living dead. (8.1.13)
In conclusion, something that sums up warfare in World War Z and quite a few other novels: war is about the limits of what people can do and what they can endure, whether it's the good, the bad, or the zombie.