Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
The novel Station Eleven, written by Emily St. John Mandel, is about the time before and
after a pandemic wipes out most of the world’s population. The book follows different
characters that are connected to each other through the death of a famous Hollywood star:
Arthur Leander and a comic book: Station Eleven. The novel explores how memories shape
the lives of its characters and how the loss of memories impacts their lives in the
post-pandemic world. In this essay, we will discuss how the worlds before and after the
pandemic are described in the novel and how the characters are influenced by their
memories.
1. Technology
In the world before the pandemic, the so-called “old life”, the characters were living a modern
life with technological dependency. They were able to easily travel all over the world and
communicate with each other. After the pandemic, this was harder. It was like the world went
three centuries back in time: things like electricity were no longer available and the
characters had to travel on foot or in carriages. Another example was when the characters
missed air-conditioning: “ …, the ones who remembered the lost world thinking longingly of
air-conditioning even after all these years.”. This quote describes their longing for the
technological conveniences from before the collapse and the fact that some characters could
not even remember these things.
2. Society
As a result of the pandemic spreading, borders faded and there were no people of authority
like a mayor to rule a city or a president to rule a country. Instead, different communities
were formed, each with their own leader. An example of a community was the Traveling
Symphony: a quite peaceful group of performers that loved to perform Shakespeare.
However, there were also more violent communities like the doomsday cult called: the Light.
This quote describes the views of the cult: "The flu," the prophet said, "the great cleansing
that we suffered twenty years ago, that flu was our flood. The light we carry within us is the
ark that carried Noah and his people over the face of the terrible waters, and I submit that we
were saved"—his voice was rising—"not only to bring the light, to spread the light, but to be
the light. We were saved because we are the light. We are the pure.". This cult believed that
the pandemic was an act of God to cleanse the population and the people that survived did
so for a reason. The leader, the Prophet, had multiple wives and was not afraid to use
violence to get a new minor to force into marriage. Another example of peace leaving the
world after the pandemic is that the characters had to protect themselves from being robbed,
which meant that they always had to carry weapons. Next to protection, they also had to
carry weapons for hunting. Since so many people died of the Georgia flu, food was not being
produced in comparison to before the pandemic. There was a shortage of food, which meant
that the characters had to hunt animals for food.
The novel Station Eleven, written by Emily St. John Mandel, is about the time before and
after a pandemic wipes out most of the world’s population. The book follows different
characters that are connected to each other through the death of a famous Hollywood star:
Arthur Leander and a comic book: Station Eleven. The novel explores how memories shape
the lives of its characters and how the loss of memories impacts their lives in the
post-pandemic world. In this essay, we will discuss how the worlds before and after the
pandemic are described in the novel and how the characters are influenced by their
memories.
1. Technology
In the world before the pandemic, the so-called “old life”, the characters were living a modern
life with technological dependency. They were able to easily travel all over the world and
communicate with each other. After the pandemic, this was harder. It was like the world went
three centuries back in time: things like electricity were no longer available and the
characters had to travel on foot or in carriages. Another example was when the characters
missed air-conditioning: “ …, the ones who remembered the lost world thinking longingly of
air-conditioning even after all these years.”. This quote describes their longing for the
technological conveniences from before the collapse and the fact that some characters could
not even remember these things.
2. Society
As a result of the pandemic spreading, borders faded and there were no people of authority
like a mayor to rule a city or a president to rule a country. Instead, different communities
were formed, each with their own leader. An example of a community was the Traveling
Symphony: a quite peaceful group of performers that loved to perform Shakespeare.
However, there were also more violent communities like the doomsday cult called: the Light.
This quote describes the views of the cult: "The flu," the prophet said, "the great cleansing
that we suffered twenty years ago, that flu was our flood. The light we carry within us is the
ark that carried Noah and his people over the face of the terrible waters, and I submit that we
were saved"—his voice was rising—"not only to bring the light, to spread the light, but to be
the light. We were saved because we are the light. We are the pure.". This cult believed that
the pandemic was an act of God to cleanse the population and the people that survived did
so for a reason. The leader, the Prophet, had multiple wives and was not afraid to use
violence to get a new minor to force into marriage. Another example of peace leaving the
world after the pandemic is that the characters had to protect themselves from being robbed,
which meant that they always had to carry weapons. Next to protection, they also had to
carry weapons for hunting. Since so many people died of the Georgia flu, food was not being
produced in comparison to before the pandemic. There was a shortage of food, which meant
that the characters had to hunt animals for food.
