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Patient Zero
Adler, a German soldier who was fighting zombies in Hamburg, was furious when General Lang ordered him to abandon civilians to the zombies and head elsewhere with his troops. Adler is a principled and conscientious man, and thinking back on how his grandfather’s generation blindly obeyed orders and hurt so many during World War II, he refused to follow Lang’s orders until Lang threatened him and his men with treason. Adler understood more about the Redeker plan later, but didn’t change his mind about it. At the conclusion of the novel, the narrator includes a line from Adler in which he says that they lost “a lot more than just people” in the war, implying that humanity had lost its morality and its honor.
Philip Adler Quotes in World War Z
The World War Z quotes below are all either spoken by Philip Adler or refer to Philip Adler. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4: Turning the Tide
Quotes
Now, I am a good soldier, but I am also a West German. […] We were taught since birth to bear the burden of our grandfathers’ shame. We were taught that, even if we wore a uniform, that our first sworn duty was to our conscience, no matter what the consequences. That is how I was raised, that is how I responded. I told Lang that I could not, in good conscience, obey this order, that I could not leave these people without protection. At this, he exploded.
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Chapter 8: Good-Byes
Quotes
We lost a hell of a lot more than just people when we abandoned them to the dead. That’s all I’m going to say.
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Philip Adler Quotes in World War Z
The World War Z quotes below are all either spoken by Philip Adler or refer to Philip Adler. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4: Turning the Tide
Quotes
Now, I am a good soldier, but I am also a West German. […] We were taught since birth to bear the burden of our grandfathers’ shame. We were taught that, even if we wore a uniform, that our first sworn duty was to our conscience, no matter what the consequences. That is how I was raised, that is how I responded. I told Lang that I could not, in good conscience, obey this order, that I could not leave these people without protection. At this, he exploded.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8: Good-Byes
Quotes
We lost a hell of a lot more than just people when we abandoned them to the dead. That’s all I’m going to say.
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