What do you think makes us human?
Over centuries, there have been countless comments on humanity's extraordinary ability to survive. That if an apocalypse were to happen, humans would somehow, against the odds, plod on. And yet 'survival is insufficient' is a key quote from Emily St John Mandel's awesome post-apocalyptic novel, Station Eleven.
The recent author of Sea of Tranquility and The Glass Hotel, Mandel published Station Eleven in 2014 about a worldwide virus that decimates society as we know it. Of course, written six years before a global pandemic, the novel does have details and moments such as the closing of borders that trigger very familiar feelings. However, the complete collapse of society in the novel is no way near a foreshadowing of how the world actually faired after COVID-19.
Dual-narrative structure
In the novel, we have a dual narrative structure but character's lives are interconnected, particularly through the presence of a certain comic book called Station Eleven (hey, that's the name of the book!) In one narrative, we follow characters in the run-up to the virus outbreak, including actor, Arthur Leander. In the next narrative, we follow Kirsten who worked with Arthur as a child actor when she was eight years old before the world went to poop. Kirsten is travelling and performing with a Shakespeare group called the Travelling Symphony.
When I first got used to this idea, I found it totally bizarre that these characters were still trying to perform in a world that was completely physically, logistically and socially broken. What would be the point? Would anyone care? Yet this is what Mandel seems to be exploring in much of the book - that art, beauty and performance are essential to life. Therefore, 'survival is insufficient.'
For me, as a creative person, this was an encouragement. That even if no one reads my work, or not many people come to a book launch event, my writing does bring me life. And why would or should that stop in an apocalypse? The need to create and express ourselves is an essential part of humanity.
Community, reflection and hope
Community, reflection and hope. These are good words to sum up this novel. While readers are introduced to a bleak setting, like in many dystopian books, the post-apocalyptic setting lends itself to reflection as characters look back on what the world was like before. In most dystopian books, characters were never around for the 'before the war' part.
The following is one of my favourite quotes from the novel: 'Yes, it was beautiful. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was gorgeous and claustrophobic. I loved it and I always wanted to escape.'
There is something so poignant about this notion that we are all living in a world that is simultaneously beautiful and a prison. We all do things to escape; watch TV, scroll social media, read easy books, exercise - whatever it is, we all have our own chosen escapism. Yet, how much of life is beautiful? Friendships, community, those small moments during family dinners or the chirp of birds on a fresh summer's morning. We love so much about this world, while there is also stuff we want to run away from. This idea is reflected in the narrative style of the novel, with its dual narrative, pulling readers from the harrowing to the hopeful.
Another powerful quote from the novel:
'No more internet. No more social media, no more scrolling through litanies of dreams and nervous hopes and photographs of lunches, cries for help and expressions of contentment and relationship-status updates with heart icons whole or broken, plans to meet up later, pleas, complaints, desires, pictures of babies dressed as bears or peppers for Halloween. No more reading and commenting on the lives of others, and in so doing, feeling slightly less alone in the room. No more avatars.'
What's fascinating about this is how much it suggests that the internet has ruined human connection. Do you agree? In many ways, the internet has connected people in ways that previous generations could never have imagined. Especially with those across the world. That key moment at the end of this list of what an apocalypse would take away concludes that the characters actually feel 'slightly less alone.' Mic drop.
And so we come to a full circle moment. 'Survival is insufficient' because humanity's legacy isn't in the fact that we continue as a species, but in human connection and shared experiences. And perhaps, through modern phenomena like the internet, we are connecting with each other less and so, are we losing our legacy and creativity?
While this novel was a slow burn, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels that explore concepts of humanity and what truly matters in life through exceptionally well-developed characters and narrative structures.
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