Zone One Lesson Plan

Mark worked in an office pre-apocalypse, and now he works in an office post-apocalypse. While his job descriptions are vastly different, why is this ironic, and why do you think Whitehead choose to situate the novel this way?

Strong responses will note that it’s ironic because most people, when they think of apocalyptic conditions, imagine a world that is wholly changed. They think that the possibility of working in an office would be entirely eliminated. However, Whitehead situates the setting of the novel as being not all that different from the pre-apocalyptic world. Yes, there are actual zombies now, but society has found a way to work around it. Mark’s office jobs...