As a senior English Teacher, I have had the pleasure of teaching Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven over the last few years.  This presents some challenges due to the non-linear narrative. It is amazing to find modern text that blends genre and combines elements of social critic with philosophy.

Some of my enthusiasm for Station Eleven is based on my own memories studying Albert Camus ‘The Plague’ in year 12, a novel that had a profound effect on my philosophical outlook and part of a enjoyable final year of schooling, which wasn’t always the case. However, these nostalgic feelings highlight several of the key ideas present in Mandel’s novel, not least of which the tendency to mythologies memories and forget the negatives of our experience. A concept I have recently had a degree of experience with coming to terms with my past. Additionally, this link also highlights the power of art to inspire memories and represents the transcendent power of culture to stretch beyond the context it was written to influence our lives. This is emphasised when studying Mandel’s novel throughout COVID 19 Pandemic, further highlighting the way art can parallel the real world like in the Station eleven comics a recuring motif present in the novel. It is these real-life representation and connections that can support Mandel’s assertion that culture is the greatest achievement of our civilisation.

These key ideas are cleverly interwoven throughout the novel as Mandel switches from before the collapse of civilisation to the fledgling new beginnings of a new one. This structure allows Mandel to not only build the idea of the changing meaning and perception of art but also serves to explore the importance and influence of relationships. It is in the transition between these time periods that Mandel highlights these links between the two primary protagonists, Kirsten Raymond, and Arthur Leader. These links become more developed throughout the novel, and it is quickly apparent that all the major characters are connected to Arthur as the central point and as a result have all been influenced by his actions. However, the lesson that Arthur learns too late and the book highlights through the progression of the main plot is that it is these human connections and relationships that create a sense of meaning. Unfortunately, this is missed by Arthur’s son who is influenced by the absence of these connections and seeks comfort to explain the cataclysmic events that have befallen the world while guided by his mother’s ability to absolve herself of responsibility.

It is this religious threat that highlight’s Mandel’s ability to blend two of my favourite genres and build an entertaining narrative. The post-apocalyptic science fiction of the world posts the gorgia flu is represented in The Prophet’s desire for multiple wives and aim to repopulate in his image. The fact his philosophy is based around the central idea of survival also has clear links to the science fiction genre. However, not as overtly emphasised as one would suspect as the notion of repopulating is implied and even the fixation on survival is implemented suggest in a way more common with Southern Gothic that highlights the threat of fanatical cultist religion. In these instances, The Prophet’s chapters are always written with the desire to build suspense with a use of the sense to highlight the approaching threat and create an atmosphere, like the odd feeling throughout the town of St Deborah by the Water.

Not only does Mandel’s skill as a writer allow her to blend genre and different text types in this way, but she is also able to use symbolism in combination with intertextuality to create deeper meaning. This is most obvious with her use of Shakespeare as the parallels between ‘King Lear’ and the characterisation of Arthur Leader are clear and emphasised by his own tragic realisation concerning his life on the eve of his death represented at the end of the novel. However, in a more nuanced way the use of a quote from Star Trek Voyager “Survival is Insufficient” taken from an episode featuring The Borg highlights the importance of individualism and is clearly a representation of the crew like relationship between the Travelling Symphony compared to The Prophet’s followers.

My greatest estimation of Mandel’s novel is for her ability to explore similar ideas that drew me to Camus’s work as a teenager as both explore the notion of people searching for meaning. Camus earlier work like ‘The Outsider’ focused on existentialism philosophies with characters able to find their own individual meaning while in ‘The Plague’ itself Camus develops absurdism where he asserts that life is a struggle against death. Both ideas are present in Mandel’s work to an extent, but the characters of Miranda, Jeevan and Kirsten highlight her preference for existentialism. In these instances, all three characters can find a degree of purpose through their relationships as well as their own pursuits either in art or through helping others. However, while the conclusions may diverge the discussion and similar dismissal of a universal or religious meaning as a threat enhances the comparison between the texts.

Overall while students might struggle to get an ounce of this depth present in Station Eleven, Mandel has crafted a text that works on multiple levels and has such rich construction that responds to multiple readings.