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John Mandel Station 11 Analysis

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A Whole New World Many people have experienced thoughts of the world ending and a different society following the aftermath, and this has led to many imaginary post-apocalyptic worlds. Station Eleven, a dystopian novel written by Emily St. John Mandel, revolves around human life on Earth after a pandemic wipes out ninety-nine percent of the world’s population. The author employs literary devices, such as imagery, tone, diction, and detail in order to effectively describe a world recovering from such a fallout. In the beginning of the passage, Mandel uses imagery and tone to help readers experience a life where the seemingly insignificant details of life that are taken for granted are no longer present. The passage begins elaborating on the lack of these everyday beauties that are not appreciated, such as pools filled with “chlorinated water lit green from below” and “porch lights with moths fluttering” around them in the summer night air. Her use of imagery offers a sensory experience and allows the reader to visualize the beautiful scene, but then to also feel reminiscent when the reader understands that these beauties are no longer existent in a post-apocalyptic civilization. The lack of trivial delicacies that surround everyday human society are taken for granted and Mandel is able to allow readers to feel nostalgic even if they themselves are not in a dystopia. Nearing the middle of the passage, Mandel imparts a grim tone and says that in this post-apocalyptic society there was no longer the “certainty of surviving a …show more content…

In such a society, everything we took for granted is gone and she is able to portray after a fallout, making the novel a realistic future if a pandemic were to strike. She also conveys the message that even in a dystopian, survival may be

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