A primary theme in “Station Eleven” is the survival of art in the wake of the apocalypse. Long after technology has withered, bands of peoples are brought together by literature. The Traveling Symphony is brought together by the works of Shakespeare and Tyler falls into the bible, creating his own cult. In both cases the art changes how they behave. Tyler, as the Prophet, believes that the Georgian Flu was sent to cull the wicked, like the Flood in the bible. He also reverts to some of the more archaic stories in the bible about having many, young wives. In this way is personality is molded by the stories he keeps in the absence of a defined culture. The end of the novel shows the power of the stories we keep. When Tyler realizes Miranda has also heard of the Dr. Eleven comics he hesitates because the shared experience of reading the comic makes them feel connected.
The nature of the stories in this novel reminds me of the TV show Doctor Who. The show is driven by the “regeneration” of the Doctor. This link shows an example of a regeneration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F84WapAH7M. When this event happens, the Doctor’s physical form and personality burn, and he takes a new completely different form. Functionally this allows different actors to become the Doctor, but it reminds me of this novel because the Doctor only has his memory of the past when he changes. Sometimes his memory of the past becomes blurry and the story he tells himself changes. Normally the Doctor is carefree and follows a set of rules, but occasionally he interprets his past differently. This leads him to change events in time or sometimes punish people for eternity. This emphasizes the importance of stories, especially in the absence of peers who shared the experience. Stories teach us how to behave socially. That is why stories are more important than technology and why art outlasted technology in this novel. Without proper social interactions that are instructed by stories and history we cannot create and use technology because we cannot communicate.
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AuthorI am a mechanical engineering student graduating this semester. Studying the role of societal change in the apocalypse interests me. Archives
April 2021
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