October 7, 2011
Pre-AP English – Period 2
World War Z Written Exam
Different Worlds
Max Brooks uses real geographical locations to show fictionally that Europe is better prepared than North America for an Apocalypse. The first way in which Max Brooks uses real geographical locations to show that North America is not very well prepared for an Apocalypse, is in Yonkers; Denver, Colorado. Todd Wainio was a U.S. Army infantryman and he was in Yonkers during “the Great Panic” preparing to make a stand against the “zacks” (zombies). What they had to use against the zombies were, “…tanks, Bradleys, Humvees armed with everything from fifty cals to these new Vasilek heavy mortars. […] We had Avenger Humvee mounted Stinger surface-to-air missile sets, we had this AVLB portable bridge layer system, […] by the freeway. We had a bunch of XM5 electronic warfare vehicles all crammed with radar and jamming gear…” (page 94). Even though they had all of these weapons none of it was going to last, it all required man power and ammunition two key items that they were running out of very fast, “Maybe if we’d had more men, more ammo…” (page 100). He is stating that yes they had all kinds of weapons, but they were useless against the zombies due to the fact that they were running out of ammunition and men that knew what to do. The second way Max Brooks use real geographical locations to shows that North America is not very well prepared for an Apocalypse is also in yonkers. Although their efforts to fight off the zombies were immense. They had every weapon imaginable, but they also had top of the line protective gear that was not needed. Todd Wainio talks about having gear called “…MOPP 4, dude, Mission Oriented Protective Posture, big bulky suits and masks that are supposed to protect you from a radioactive or biochem environment.” (page 95). He also states “…what genius thought to put us in body armor anyway? Because the press reamed’ em for not having enough