Essay on Utopia and Brooks

Submitted By Joe-Lacan
Words: 1108
Pages: 5
Open Document
Josephus Lacan
April 2015
Grande Prairie Alberta
English 1220 A3
Anna Lapointe

A World led to Disintegration
Due to the plague as well as the destruction witnessed in “World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War”, America tends to be portrayed as a dystopia. A world in disarray, filled with horrifying creatures and supernatural elements certainly differs from the thought of a perfect world, or a utopia. Max Brooks has been able to narrate the story in a unique manner that is able to grasp the attention of the readers.
The first clear hint towards America being depicted as a dystopia is the “plague” (World War Z, Max Brooks, page 22) that takes place. Brooks serves as an interviewer as well as a historian throughout the novel. The first-person peripheral narration goes on to talk about the origin and effect that the plague had on the entire world. “Patient zero” (Brooks, page 7) is identified as the prime reason to the plague. This patient is a young child in China was the first outbreak that was recorded. Brooks further mentions how the villagers in China caution him. He mentions his encounter, by saying “they warned me not to touch him, that he was cursed” (Brooks, page 7). This line shows the gravity of the situation. The spread of this disease was rapid, and due to lack of information it gets viral. Utopia consists of perfect qualities, with highly appreciated features. The presence of a spreading plague certainly does not match the concept of a utopia. This worldwide epidemic catches all the governments all around the world off-guard, even the American government. The greed witnessed by political figures causes confusion and problems; features which are more relatable to a dystopia. A disease spreading worldwide causing nations to get unstable certainly contrasts a utopia.
A utopia consists of beings with no flaws, living in peaceful environments. The population of a utopia remains content with no hassles in life. They live and maintain cordial relations with fellow individuals. In this novel, the environment is filled with horror caused by zombies, horrifying creatures created due to the spreading disease. The number of the zombies tends to keep increasing, causing fear in citizens as well as the governments of the affected nations. The first factor contrasting the utopian outlook would be the horrifying creatures, attacking innocent citizens of the world. These creatures, called as “zombies” by Brooks, seem to attack in unison. This makes the force more effective and alarming for the military forces all over the world. They seem to be invincible, until a certain research concludes that destroying its brain can kill the zombies. The environment is altered after the spread of the epidemic, creating one that is full of terror and despair. However, strong relations that are generally seen in a utopia are witnessed in this novel. After being terrorized by the zombies, the various governments with support of the citizens decide to regroup. The previous failed attempt was the integrated martial technology used against the zombies, which had failed miserably. So, it was clear that without an effective plan, the entire human race was in danger. The assembling and effective decision-making caused them to gather a force, which was able to overcome the zombies. The determination to get through the crisis by the humans is seen when “they had a different kind of survival instinct, an instinct born in a time when they were slaves in their own country” (Brooks, page 30). Human instinct is the underlying reason to the creation of civilizations. America is seen in ruins, with bloodthirsty zombies causing chaos and destabilizing the government. That leads to disarray, which all seem to match the description of a dystopia.
Loyalty, equality and honesty are features possessed by all in a utopian society or community. These traits are certainly needed in order to maintain a perfect city with no problems whatsoever. However, the
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Utopia and Brooks

Moral Philosopher And The Moral Life Analysis

James”, in deference to his declaration. However, David Brooks writes, “In many different venues, the suffering of the few is justified by those trying to deliver the greatest good for the greatest number.” Is it worth it if that happiness has to come as a result of the suffering of a five-year old girl, Ivan, the realistic brother, asks Alyosha, the religious brother, in The Brothers Karamazov. Alyosha replies it would not be, but David Brooks again notes, “we tolerate exploitation, telling each other…

Words 1057 - Pages 5

Essay on 16 ReforminAmerica

has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them.” Albert Einstein Key Points Brook Farm The Ideas for Reform The Temperance Movement The Anti-slavery Movement Radical Reforms & Reformers  Utopianism  What is a utopia?  What did they redefine?  The Zenith – 1820s-1840s  The Societies  Onieda (Perfectionists)  John Humphrey Noyes  Brook Farm (1841-1847)  George Ripley  Owenities (New Harmony, IL)  Fourierists  Llano De Rio  Celebration, FL Radical…

Words 324 - Pages 2

Privat Reform Movement

About 100 reform communities were established before the Civil War. These “utopian” communities varied in structure and motivation. Some were governed by a charismatic leader, others were democratic. Most were religiously motivated, but some had secular origins in desires to reverse social and economic changes unleashed by the market revolution. Nearly all of these communities sought to make society cooperative, restoring social harmony in an increasingly individualistic society, and closing the…

Words 1218 - Pages 5

Essay about Muses: Dystopia and Thought-provoking Questions

Plato’s Republic, visions of a world in which everything is in its place have tantalized writers, philosophers, and sociologists. In the nineteenth century, utopias were not long written about, but some were attempted. The realization that any imagined perfect world would be doomed to fail (combined with the fact that most of the attempted utopias did fail) gave rise to the dystopian – or anti-utopian – novel. Other popular dystopian novels include George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. Although relatively…

Words 2427 - Pages 10

ASS 11 EATING DISORDER L C Essay

Eating Disorder Assessment II April 18, 2012 Lori Cheeseman National University Professor Rogers Eating Disorder By using feminist therapy, the therapist can help the female “Bulimia Nervosa” (Morrison, 2006, p. 391) client understand the cultural etiology of her disorder (Carolan, Bak, Hoppe-Rooney, & Burns-Jager, 2010). In other words, it would be therapeutic for the female client to understand and relate her Bulimia Nervosa to society’s oppressive, macro structural constraints…

Words 2952 - Pages 12

Essay on Physical theatre

Physical theatre Physical theatre is a genre of theatrical performance that pursues storytelling through primarily physical means. Several performance traditions all describe themselves as "physical theatre", but the unifying aspect is a reliance on physical motion of the performers rather than or combined with text to convey the story. In basic sense, you talk through hand gestures, body language, thought track and many more physical features. Dympha Callery suggests that all physic…

Words 6691 - Pages 27

Marxism and Communism Christian Communism Essay

Introduction Communism is a social structure in which classes are abolished and property is commonly controlled, as well as a political philosophy and social movement that advocates and aims to create such a society.Karl Marx, the father of communist thought, posited that communism would be the final stage in society, which would be achieved through a proletarian revolution and only possible after a socialist stage develops the productive forces, leading to a superabundance of goods and services…

Words 4976 - Pages 20

Civil War Terms Essay

Sugar Act (1764) Revenue-raising act passed by the British parliament on sugar and sugar products Was stricter enforcement of earlier Molasses Act of 1733 Angered colonists, taxation without representation Stamp Act (1765) Direct tax on the colonies requiring all printed materials (legal documents, deeds, newspapers, magazines, etc.) to have a stamp on them Colonists had to pay stamp collectors to get stamps Declaratory Act (1766) Repealed the Stamp Act ...but, said parliament "had, hath, and…

Words 8628 - Pages 35

Criminology Notes Essay

The Demonic Era recap -two main paths that can lead you to the devil? Temptation (choice), possession -5 trials -Patriarchal society Modern Day ‘Witch Hunts?’ -A witch hunt occurs any time a group of people persecutes another group unfairly, usually blaming that other group for larger problems, form of a socially constructed problem -e.g. expansion of AIDS blaming on homosexuals, blaming unemployment rates on immigration -early 1900s Chinese immigrants come to Canada to work on the railroads…

Words 8665 - Pages 35