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John Mandel's Station Eleven

757 Words4 Pages

Station Eleven, a science fiction novel written by Emily ST. John Mandel, tells the stories of characters’ lives and careers before and after the Georgia Flu, is a strong infection causing infected patients’ deaths within forty eight hours. Mandel describes feelings and actions of characters about their home islands, their places in their world, and two categories of art, high and low, which trigger survivors’ different responses, to mimic modern citizens’ emotions and points of view about their current society. By constructing an imitation of modern citizens’ feelings in the book, Mandel shows readers how their lives will become after losing their current positions in order to remind them that they need to appreciate what they have and not …show more content…

Mandel pictures an imperfect home island to show readers what their original society looks like in the novel’s world. The flaws of this island are flaws that modern society itself maintains. Characters who lived here want to leave. Mandel applies this emotion to people who are eager to leave. This common ideology drives readers to understand the world of the novel. Arthur came from Delano Island, which is located between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. It is a small island with only one elementary school with sixty students. He stays there until being admitted into the University of Toronto. “The point of coming to this city wasn’t school, he decides, school was just his method of escape” (Mandel 74). He regards schooling as a method to leave the island on which he lives. In his memory, it is a small, boring place enveloped by the darkness of death. (A woman died in the only lake on the island and her corpse disappeared.) As a result, he leaves as soon as he gets the opportunity. Mandel creates Arthur’s thoughts on leaving to reflect some people’s inner feelings in this busy world. The tedious daily life eliminates passions for pursuing futures. People complain about what they experience. Polluted air and water, isolated lives due to the development of social media, expansion of infections, all of these side effects are caused by civilization encouraging people who want to escape from reality. Some young people choose to travel and leave their routine lives; others move back to the countryside or refuse to use new technology. Complaints can be heard more than admiration. Arthur’s island is modern citizens’ society. Arthur and modern citizens see flaws in these places and then refuse to settle there. As a result, they start to feel lost and emerge with a desire to find a new destination. The reason for

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