World War Z - Blog II. Corruption

While reading World War Z, by Max Brooks, I have found a common theme that the author uses to make the stories more interesting. It's something that is all too real in our world and the world created by this author. The theme is corruption, and the book shows that when crises occur people are not as generous and helpful to each other as they could be, and are often out to get anything they can, regardless of the cost.

In World War Z, the main character meets a man named Breckinridge (Breck Scott), who lives in a place called 'The dome'. 'The Dome is a self-powered greenhouse in the middle of nowhere. Breck was the creator of Phalanx, a drug created to prevent rabies. This drug was needed after a rabies scare spread across South Africa, and spread across the media as well. At first Breck was serious about his product. He thought he had created a medication that would actually help people withstand the rabies epidemic. And he started making millions from it. But when word got out that the epidemic wasn't just rabies, Breck knew his drug wouldn't prevent the other diseases included,  but still advertised and sold it as if it could cure everything. He kept making money off it, but stopped caring for the people he had tried at first to help.

In another story in the book, Todd Wainio, a United States soldier who fought in the Zombie War is stationed in Yonkers, New York, where he and hundred of troops were setting up a blockade with heavy artillery. There were news cameras, helicopters, and news teams interviewing soldiers. The problem was that some of the artillery and equipment was just for show, used to scare the public. the soldiers were all supposed to wear hazmat suits, as if there was an airborne virus spreading throughout the world. Todd repeatedly says that they didn't need the suits and the artillery that they had. When the zombies came and the soldiers were finding that half of the equipment they had did nothing to stop the hordes of Zombies. The military was overly prepared with things they didn't need. The military was just lying to scare the public.

I these types of situations could definitely happen in our world. People stop caring about what they are trying to accomplish when making a profit over-rides one's original intention. Corruption happens everywhere. Dick Cheney got money from his old company, Halliburton, even though he resigned as CEO. Halliburton profited greatly from the war in Iraq. They were awarded millions in government contracts with no other bidders ever considered. Cheney's CEO compensation money was deferred during his Vice Presidency, but after his term ended, Cheney would get those profits.

Corruption is a major theme of World War Z, and is a very topical theme to add to a zombie book. Along with the details of war and the multiple stories that I explained in my last blog, the theme of corruption made the world of World War Z that much more believable. Brooks succeeds in adding a political thread to the stories of a zombie apocalypse.