A Story Within a Story
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is not named for a place that is real within the novel, like I expected before I began reading.
It is a title more scientific and sterilized sounding than the poetic story turned out to be.
Once I reached the part where Station Eleven is revealed to be the title of a graphic novel series, I wondered why Mandel choose it as the name of the whole story.
Would she present comparisons between the world in the graphic novel and the world of the story? I wondered. She certainly does compare the two worlds—the Undersea just wanting to go home the way the novel’s characters long for the time before, the dog in the graphic novel and the prophet’s (Tyler’s) dog, the page Kirsten finds in the dead prophet’s possession showing a death—but Station Eleven, the graphic novel, is important for more than its contents.
A Connection
First, the graphic novel ties together the different parts of the story. It is created by Miranda, who draws Clark, Elizabeth, and Arthur into the story (332). Arthur never understands it but gives his copies to Tyler and Kirsten, who end up confronting each other at the end (without knowing that Arthur connects them). Station Eleven permeates the story.
An Art Form
Second, the graphic novel is a type of art, along with Shakespeare, music, Star Trek, and old technology, all of which people still admire after the Georgia flu, if not more for all they’ve lost. As Dr. Jennings brought up in the Surviving Apocalypse class discussion, Mandel’s inclusion of Star Trek and graphic novels prompts the question of what makes art art and why we choose to value certain art forms over others.
An Important Object
Third, the graphic novel is one of a few objects in Mandel’s story that point to the importance of small things and small moments. It is an object that gives Miranda purpose and Kirsten hope. The other important object is the paper weight, which makes its way from Clark to Arthur to Miranda, then back to Arthur who gives it to Tanya who gives it to Kirsten as Arthur lies dead on the theater stage. Kirsten attaches herself to Station Eleven and the paper weight, carrying them everywhere in the 20 years after the pandemic.
During and after reading the novel, I found myself savoring banal moments more, thanking God for things like car keys and string lights that I’d taken for granted. Only two other books/series have made me appreciate life as much: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. All three stories feature characters struggling in inhospitable landscapes just to live.
The second and third points are major themes of the novel Station Eleven, making the title entirely appropriate. The story within the story allows Mandel to convey her message in a complex and, for me, effective way.
