Memory can be a source of positivity and negativity based on an individual’s circumstances. Xinyue Zhou and his partners in the study of nostalgia have concluded that “nostalgia, a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, is a predominantly positive and social emotion,” and that it “maintains psychological comfort,” but the key word is “predominantly” (Zhou,2012). Nostalgia is depicted very differently in Station eleven and The Odyssey because the circumstances of characters in each book are substantially different. In The Odyssey, nostalgia is a social function that is used to tell heroic tales of the past to show an individuals valour or worth. For example, after Odysseus tells the Phaeacians of his heroic actions against the
