John Mandel's Station Eleven

Education, by definition, is the process of receiving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. In Joseph Zobel’s, Black Shack Alley, we come across many different forms of education. Jose, the protagonist, moves from the plantation town, Petit-Bourg, to a more urbanized town, Forte-de-France. The education he receives in these two places differ because of the difference between the impoverished country environment and the wealthy town environment. Jose’s education from two very different places, a wealthy town and a poor country, is not limited to lessons learned in school, but expands to lessons learned from people around him.

In the novel The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer, the author captures the experiences of a marginalised character, Tom Leyton. The use of the silkworm metaphor invites the audience to uncover the dark secrets of Tom Leyton 's mysterious past. The introduction of the character Joseph Davidson provides the author with a catalyst to open the metaphor of the silkworm and take the reader on a journey to understand the life experiences of Tom Leyton. Joseph Davidson, who is portrayed as someone with poor self esteem is also described as an outsider. The running man is used by the author to reveal the experiences of Joseph Davidson and demonstrate his growth of becoming less marginalised throughout the novel. By creating characters in the novel who are excluded and labelled the author demonstrates how cruel society can be to people. The purpose of this essay is to show how the author reveals the experiences of marginalised characters in society.

Are humans instinctively evil? Savage? In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, young boys are left to organize themselves into a society to keep balance and peace on the island. When the society crumbles beneath their feet, one must ask these questions. The downfall and overall plot of the book is largely telling of human nature, and may be a smaller analogy for human nature in itself. The theme of human nature in The Lord of the Flies permeates the book through the characters, their archetypes, and the plot itself.

Why are here? What is the meaning of our lives? Are they futile? Such questions have been pondered upon ever since people were capable of intelligent thinking. Many schools of philosophical thought have tried to answer them, each in their own ways. Most of these philosophy sects have tried to explain, from their perspective, what the point of existence is. The Atzecs said that the ultimate meaning in life was to live a perfectly balanced life between nature and humans, and to allow ‘energy’ to flow from generation to generation. On the other hand, the Tibetans have said that the goal of existence is to end all suffering. In Station Eleven, by Emily Rand, characters struggle to find a common ground on why they are living. While for some, living is simply survival, for others, such as Kirsten, living needs to be more. In the post-apocalyptic wasteland presented in Station Eleven, and in general, I think that the very point of life is to find that common ground between you and others.

In Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, he explains how powerful exile plays an important role in the narrator’s journey to finding out who he really is. According to Edward Said “Exile is… a rift forced between a human being and a native place,…its essential sadness can never be surmounted…a potent, even enriching” .The narrator’s journey to finding who he is, was alienating and enriching.

Risks are a possibility of loss or injury; all humans at least once in their lifetime have to do something risky. If life has no risks, you’re not really living it, since we humans do not grow as a species (or society) if there is no challenge in life. People in this world must have challenge and struggle to overcome an obstacle in their life to discover the real world. This way a person will grow physically and most importantly, mentally, to never do something adventurous or take the easy way out is on them. Krakauer, Emerson and Thoreau all have their own ideas on risk, but they all have in common is that risk can change a person for the good or bad.

“Mammita’s Garden Cove” by Cyril Dabydeen tells the story of a protagonist Max, who demonstrates nostalgia of an island he once lived on whilst living in urban, downtown Toronto. Relying on the use of, repetition, diction, and juxtaposition Dabydeen successfully conveys the emotion of mild regret and ultimately complex attitude towards place held by the protagonist.

“Somebody being shot in front of you, or you yourself shooting somebody became just like drinking a glass of water.” (Ishmael Beah). “A Long Way Gone” was written by Ishmael Beah and published in 2007. It is a written masterpiece that captivates its readers by telling us his story, a former child soldier. In this he narrates the pain, the suffering and the fear that he endured for three years, literally fighting for his life against the rebels that caused all the chaos and the mayhem. Reading the book was like a rollercoaster ride of emotions and I am going to share what I believe are the three most important scenes. This include Ishmael hiding and surviving from the rebels, Ishmael transitioning and being trained into a child soldier, and Ishmael’s recovery and rehabilitation.

Dystopian stories are usually set in an unfavorable society in which to live, where the antagonist is the society itself, and the protagonist is the person who is looking towards changing this society and fixing its flaws, who believes that they can make a difference by overthrowing the government or escaping from it. The conflict is often not solved, or the hero fails to solve it, and the dystopian society continues as it was before. Harrison Bergeron is an example of a dystopian story where society has intensely controlled the population’s unique qualities to make everyone exactly equal. People’s talent, beauty, intelligence, and any other quality that makes them different is brought down and destroyed by forcing them to wear handicaps, masks, and weights. Harrison Bergeron is the protagonist of the story. He disagrees with the society’s way of living and is arrested for it, but he takes a step forward to change it. The author takes on different varieties of tone throughout the story such as gloominess, despair, and joy, which clarify the idea that he disagrees with this society’s

On September 11, 2001, tragedy struck the city of New York. On that fateful day, two airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and flew straight into the twin towers. Each tower fell completely to the ground, taking thousands of lives with it and injuring thousands more. Not only did that day leave thousands of families without their loved ones, it also left an entire city and an entire country to deal with the aftermath of the destruction. Poet, Nancy Mercado, worries that one day people will forget that heartbreaking day. Though there is little danger of forgetting that heartbreaking day, she worries that even she will still forget. She expresses these worries while writing her poem “Going to Work”. She does this by using three poetic devices within her poem: personification, imagery, and symbolism.

“We saw your smoke. What have you been doing? Having a war or something?” (Golding 201). In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is about a crash landing on an island that left a group of boys stranded far from civilization. The only thought on their mind was to be rescued. This group of boys faced many obstacles during this wild experience. Without laws and order on this isolated island, society will regress to savagery.

What core elements define the essence of humanity? In Mandel’s novel, one is compelled to reconsider the defining characteristics of humanity. Mandel structures the plot of Station Eleven around the main character Arthur Leander’s life. Throughout the novel, Mandel explores a series of sub character’s perspectives of the flu pandemic and each of their roles in the post-apocalyptic world it creates, encouraging the reader to delve into the relationships between humanity and art. Book reviewer Justine Jordan from The Guardian summarizes the book perfectly by claiming that “Station Eleven is not so much about [an] apocalypse as about memory and loss, nostalgia, and yearning” (Jordan, par. 5). Instead of following a typical linear pattern of plot,

The setting shapes the mood and tone of a story and has a great affect on what happens in a story. The setting influences the events that take place, how the characters interact and even how they behave. Settings show where and how the character lives, what they do, and what they value. Characters have a relationship with the setting just as much as they do with other characters in the story. This is seen in the effects the setting has on the development of the Character Elisa in the story “The Chrysanthemums.”

The fall of man on the uninhabited, peaceful, and pure island represents how man is inevitably entropic and anthropocentric. Man is centered on humankind being the most important element of existence which is a threat to the surrounding nature. Jack and his team symbolize the arrogance of man and "mankind 's essential illness," which is the evil inside of us. Hence the creation of anarchy where the boys have the temptation to conquer everything. "Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear...The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her(120)," the boys have conquered nature after killing the sow and represents the terror man is going to bring nature . However, there are also signs of nature cleansing the boys’ terror on the island. “The line of his cheek silvered and the turn

“A Caged Bird” is a poem by Maya Angelou, that describes the struggle of a bird ascending from the restrictions with adverse surroundings. The poem renders the oppression that has affected African Americans over the years. As Angelou explains, the bird fights its imprisonment even with fear, but rises above with the stance of freedom. “Phenomenal Women” by Maya Angelou discusses beauty being in the eye of the beholder. You don’t have to have a perfect physique or focus entirely on outer beauty. Inner beauty has more definition, she explains that women should appreciate their flaws. After all there is only one of you and everyone was created differently.