Station Eleven, the thought provoking

“There is only here, she told herself” for better or for worse; that's what this book taught us. Whether it be a moment you enjoy or despise you must live in it. In the book Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel outlines a post apocalyptic world that challenges our society at its very core; social interactions. Characters from completely different social backgrounds are challenged with their demons after a dangerous virus wipes out most of the world. A travelling symphony, which satisfies the most basic entertainment needs of humans, is in Mandel's main focus throughout this novel. She tracks their travel throughout unpopulated areas and thereby develops a narrative that forces the reader to reflect on his life from an outside perspective and evaluate what really matters. In the end human relationships prove resistant to all challenges. When the system that rewards individuals for most effectively ripping off one another is destroyed social integrity thrives instead of dwindling.

Utilizing this powerful narrative Mandel reveals deep rooted fallacies in our society. This narrative worked for me because it continuously forced me to transfer myself into individual characters positions and evaluate what I would do if faced with their challenges. This made me think about what I would really cherish if all the superficiality of society faded away and the reality remained. The cornerstone idea of this novel that “Survival is insufficient” provokes this thought paradigm. It is not enough to drudge yourself through the mundane world and run along with the stream of superficialities that our society uses to cover up its insecurities and flaws. In order to be truly happy we need to strive to make every single second of our lives the best possible thing it can be because that opportunity could vanish by the next second.

This constant thought process furthermore engages the reader in reflections of their own life. What are you making of it? Are you doing things because they are expected of you or are you doing them out of conviction? Mandel’s unique way of telling a story made me intimately assess every character's motivations and righteousness. Whether it was Clark’s conviction to preserve artifacts of society or Kirsten's will to survive at all costs, all characters portrayed one coping mechanism of human nature. This intimate evaluation of each character made me ponder the perspective of everything I cherish gone. I was forced to reassess what and who I would really miss, what and who really means something to me, and if I am making potentially the same mistakes that these characters regret. I was gifted all the possibilities that the apocalypse survivors fight for every day. Am I making the most of this amazing gift? This intense self reflection confirmed me in my conviction not to “spend” all my life “waiting for [my] li[fe] to begin.”

However this powerful narrative also bore many challenges for the reader. Because so many characters were illuminated by the plot it was often hard to discern every character's unique contribution to the main message. I often found myself confused by the intricate complications of the plot line and the twists and turns of the story telling perspective. Although I did not fully understand everything in the plot the insights I did gain would not have been possible without her unique narrative.

As more and more world wide competition arises students lives and education are being transformed into an arms race instead of an environment that individuality can thrive in. More than ever before does our future require creative thinkers who create jobs that aren’t even imaginable right now. As automatization creeps forward even into traditionally creative and intellectual fields a stress for free thinking and creative spirit is evermore important. Because “survival is insufficient” and because more than the pursuit of superficial materialistic commodities we need fulfillment and the certainty that what we are dedicate our lives to matters.