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What is Forgotten?

What is Forgotten?

By Whitney White

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a very well-told apocalyptic novel. It has many different themes throughout that encourage the reader to think deeply. Mandel is very intentional about the way she tells this story. Many stories are being told all at once. One aspect of the book is life right before the pandemic began.

I think that the focus on life before the world ended was to show what was important to people and what life was like for people before the virus hit. King Lear was being performed live on stage by Arthur who was about to die of a heart attack before the pandemic had even begun. Miranda was in a hotel thinking about her next business move. Jeevan attended the play and would be the nameless man who tried to save Arthur. There is so much irony happening here. So many plans being made that would never come to pass. So many worries that would not be relevant within a week. For example, Arthur making plans to see his son and move to Israel. I think Mandel wants people to think about what they are doing with their lives. Are they happy with where they are? Are they putting something off into the past that they want to do? Mandel shows how instantly life can change and I think telling the story this way urges readers to examine their own lives and what they are engaging in. She wants to urge people to be spending their life wisely because we never know when life as you know it may end. She also puts a big focus on what is important after the apocalypse.

Early in the book, we are introduced to the traveling symphony. They go town to town performing mainly Shakespeare. I think this was intentional because Shakespeare's life is plagued with so much tragedy caused by the diseases spreading in his life-time. The irony of it given the current situation is not lost on me. I found it funny that the symphony thought Shakespeare would be the way to uplift people when most of his plays were tragedies. I think the significance of Shakespeare being a part of the entertainment that gets remembered makes the reader wonder what else is forgotten. Some people in this new world teach their children about the old world and it just makes them sad others choose not to give the old world any thought at all and focus instead on teaching survival tactics. This indicates that certain cultures, languages, artwork, and music may be forgotten. In the airport, Clark acknowledges that the remnants of the old world could be forgotten, and he begins to make a museum that contains iPhone, toasters, dead video games, and books, etc. to preserve as much as he can. Inevitably though some things are forgotten. I do not recall any discussion for example of country or rap music. There was no collection of old maps. There were the last newspapers that were printed before the world stopped which contained gossip. It was eye-opening to see that something like gossip is preserved while other more substantial memories are gone forever. I think it was meant to show how many sentimental things that we hold dear are luxuries that can be stripped from us in an instant. These days most photos are stored on phones which were dead in this period. It also is an example of how society places a large amount of focus on things that simply do not matter at the end of the day. Mandel does not allow all hope to be lost though. She shows that what is remembered can be used to rebuild.

At the end of the book, we learn that there is a city with electricity. This leaves the reader with a sense of hope that one day the world will rebuild. There is also a new newspaper being made with events happening after the pandemic that traders bring from other cities to the airport museum. This shows that life goes on and humans, though very vulnerable have a strong ability to rebuild and thus move on from horrific events. I think the book shows that we do not need all the luxuries we think we do to survive and that some level of going off the grid can bring people together to really problem solve and look out for one another. The book Station Eleven ultimately shows that from the dark there will be light albeit 20+ years later.


Image by: Kate Rumbold (University of Birmingham)

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