—Emily St. John Mandel
The universal tool of imagination and creative skill, art, surrounds us in our daily lives whether it is displayed as an ornate painting or a fluid and poetic stanza of poetry. As shown through Emily Mandel’s post-apocalyptic novel, Station Eleven, a collective team of musicians named, The Traveling Symphony, travel across the corrupt North Americas to rebuild the lost knowledge, understanding, and technology of the pre-pandemic world. Although the Traveling Symphony members endured negative experiences and life threatening individuals after the collapse, their art lives on and allows the musicians to create relationships …show more content…
Imagine being surrounded by a desolate, alarming, and cautious world where the majority of the population has gone extinct due to the Georgia Flu. Kirsten and the very few musicians left on Earth try to conceive any ideas of hope in the world by showcasing art to various audiences throughout North America. Twenty years after the detrimental collapse “The Traveling Symphony,” continues to wow audiences with not only works of music but with plays such as Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Although technology has come and gone after the collapse the beauty and poetic lines of Shakespeare live on. Commencing after the performance audience members state, “Let us thank, the Traveling Symphony for this beautiful respite from our daily lives…” (Mandel 59). Tyler Leander, the Prophet, convinces …show more content…
For most, it could be a god given talent like playing a sport or a desire to create something out of junk, but for the musicians, it’s their literature and music. A vast majority of the living society want to perish because they see their family members or their dearest friends dying off. Overcoming the jarring reality of the post-pandemic world, the Traveling Symphony plays their hearts out creating music and allowing themselves to take breaks from the harsh reality that surrounds them. With great emotion, Miranda states, “’I’d prefer not to think that I’m following a script…’” (Mandel 106). Thus, meaning Miranda wants to take risks in her life rather than having to follow the path that was created for her to follow. When writing Station Eleven it allows her to escape the abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend Pablo. Miranda does not write her comic to impress anyone or even to make moneyshe writes it solely for her pleasure. During a fight between Miranda and Pablo, Pablo yells, “’You’re always half on Station Eleven…’” (Mandel 87). Miranda gets sucked into her own work that parallels her own life story. She constantly is adding on to her comics and slips away from reality while illustrating and writing up to date stories to advance her plot