"Station Eleven" Shows Humanity in a New Light

Thursday, September 25th, 2016

"Station Eleven" Presents Humanity In The Face Of Destruction

While most post-apocalyptic novels tell stories of destruction, chaos, and death, Emily St.John Mandel’s Station Eleven introduces the possibilities of life, love, family, hope, and beauty. Station Eleven analyses the underlying beauty of human nature shown by the destruction of the world, and efforts to create a new one. By doing so, this novel is able to compel readers to think beyond known civilization and society, so that all there is left to ponder is the core of humanity. I believe that Mandel’s most important point in the book is that if the world ended in destruction, sorrow, and death; there will always be hope within humanity. Mandel’s unconventional voice allows readers to consider the essence of hope succeeding the catastrophe.She effectively shows the beauty of hope  by utilizing a passionate voice to showcase the elements of various symbols in the book. This gives the reader deep insight inside the novel and makes the reader rethink the world as an entirety.

Station Eleven begins with events preceding the apocalypse caused by a flu epidemic. The novel first sets out during a King Lear play in Toronto, Canada. The star of the play, Arthur, a 51-year old actor, has a sudden heart attack on stage. In attempts to revive him, Jeevan, a man who knew CPR in the crowd runs onto the stage. After his attempts, Jeevan looked to exit the theater, when he notices a young girl crying, Kristen. Kristen and Jeevan are later revived and intertwined together throughout the story. They also continue to be addressed after the end to the modern world. Kristen appears again twenty years later post-apocalypse. At this time most of the modern world and the people in it are destroyed, now known as the ‘Old Word’, this newborn world after the destruction is referred to as the ‘New World’. Within the New world, Kristen  is a part of something known as the Traveling Symphony, a band of musicians that perform musicals and concerts in small towns and civilization. In Station Eleven, the Traveling Symphony is Mandel’s most prominent symbol of hope. They are viewed as such because of their dedication to spreading plays, music, and concepts of love and family from the Old World.        

Mandel uses an especially passionate voice when talking about the Traveling Symphony which contributes to their impact as a symbol. “ But what made it bearable were the friendships, of course, the camaraderie, and the music and the Shakespeare, the moments of transcendent beauty and joy when it didn’t matter who’d used the last of the rosin on their blow or who anyone had slept with” (Mandel, 49) I believe it is within this excerpt where Mandell first truly exemplifies her passion for the Symphony. She describes quite wistfully the important elements of the Symphony and why they matter. Throughout the novel, due to Mandel’s passionate voice when speaking of the Symphony, readers begin to understand its importance. They start to think about the significance the Symphony brings to its participants as well as those who view their performances. It is within the Traveling Symphony where the Old World can be rehashed and reminisced. They can also be equated to the beauty and hope of humanity . When the Symphony performs for people Mandel passionately describes the joy and beauty they bring the audience and themselves, “What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there was still such beauty. Twilight in the altered world, a performance of a Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Mandel, 57). Despite the ‘end of the world’ the group is a family that spread joy, happiness and music throughout the remains of civilization. The transcendent unity and joy that the Symphony brings to itself and to others transpire hope onto the thought that even though the Old World is nonexistent, the New World can still contain its elements. Without Mandel's earnest voice when speaking of the Symphony, the message she is trying to pull across of hope within humanity, the novel wouldn't make much of an impact.

Mandel’s unusual perspective and beautiful voice makes this book ardent. The Traveling Symphony allows us to broaden our thoughts of our views of human nature as a whole and question whether or not family, love, and hope would transcend the destruction of humanity. It is through Mandel’s passion that the reader gains insight into Station Eleven. Mandel drives us to question what would happen if the world were to end; what would remain, and what would cease.