Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven begins with the end of the pompous life of first-class Hollywood star Arthur Leander, when he is suddenly struck by a heart attack and dies on stage amid his performance of King Lear. Less than 24 hours from his death, a deadly contagious pandemic called Georgia Flu falls upon the earth and threatens the existence of the whole civilization. With 99 percent of human population swiftly vanishes within the matter of week, Mandel envisions how the once interconnected and technologically driven society now falls apart into primitively distant towns.
Twenty years into the future, the Traveling Symphony -- a group of 20 or so musicians and actors -- is traveling through the post-apocalyptic landscape of North America with horses, guns, arrows and knives to perform Shakespeare. The reason? As the Traveling Symphony’s motto taken from Star Trek: Voyager says, because “Survival is insufficient.” Forgetful of the old world and alone in this unprecedented darkness, main …show more content…
Station Eleven implies the uniqueness of any death and refuses to think of deaths as anonymous or statistic. Jumping forth into the post-apocalyptic world, Kirsten Raymonde knows this well as she contemplate about lives that she has been forced to kill in order for herself to live, “it is possible to survive this but not unaltered, and you will carry these men with you through all the nights of your life” (296). She may not know who these men are, their history and their names, but it is certain that the deaths she causes personally changes her, not just mentally but also physically, as implied by the black knife tattoos on her wrist. This makes up the humane characteristic of the novel, especially in comparison to other stories of the apocalyptic genre such as The Walking Dead or World War
Twenty years into the future, the Traveling Symphony -- a group of 20 or so musicians and actors -- is traveling through the post-apocalyptic landscape of North America with horses, guns, arrows and knives to perform Shakespeare. The reason? As the Traveling Symphony’s motto taken from Star Trek: Voyager says, because “Survival is insufficient.” Forgetful of the old world and alone in this unprecedented darkness, main …show more content…
Station Eleven implies the uniqueness of any death and refuses to think of deaths as anonymous or statistic. Jumping forth into the post-apocalyptic world, Kirsten Raymonde knows this well as she contemplate about lives that she has been forced to kill in order for herself to live, “it is possible to survive this but not unaltered, and you will carry these men with you through all the nights of your life” (296). She may not know who these men are, their history and their names, but it is certain that the deaths she causes personally changes her, not just mentally but also physically, as implied by the black knife tattoos on her wrist. This makes up the humane characteristic of the novel, especially in comparison to other stories of the apocalyptic genre such as The Walking Dead or World War