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What is the “Station Eleven” that the title refers to?
The novel’s title, Station Eleven, refers to a series of obscure comics created by Miranda Carroll, an artist who did not survive the pandemic but whose work lives on in a few of the survivors. Miranda’s comics, which were titled “Dr. Eleven” and “Station Eleven,” follow an astronaut named Dr. Eleven who lives in a space station because Earth is uninhabitable. Dr. Eleven knows that the only way to survive is to live in space, but he is deeply lonely and longs for his life on Earth. In the post-flu world, Kirsten and Tyler have access to these comics, and connect to them deeply. The Station Eleven comics serve as a metaphor for the experience of the flu survivors. While they’re still technically living on Earth, they’re grieving the entire human world, from countries and cities and modern technology to art, the internet, and, of course, friends and family. Like the astronauts in the comics, the flu survivors will never see their old home again. It is permanently gone, and even though they miss it terribly, they must find ways to survive and find purpose in the new world.
What is the purpose of The Traveling Symphony?
The Traveling Symphony is a traveling Shakespeare company made up of people who live by the company’s motto: Survival is insufficient. After the flu, human society is so destroyed that there is little time for art—most people are preoccupied with food, shelter, and self-defense. However, as things start to settle, a troupe of actors and musicians forms. Their shared purpose is to bring art back to humanity. They travel between towns and settlements to perform Shakespeare’s plays for residents. The company is generally welcomed, and people enjoy coming to their performances, showing that many humans miss the comfort, entertainment, and emotional outlet that plays and music provide. Although it’s sometimes difficult for the Symphony members to remain hopeful in such a violent world, they ultimately must believe that art is an essential part of the human experience, and that it is necessary to keep it alive. Their purpose in life is to bring intellectual thought, feeling, entertainment, and storytelling into this damaged new world, as base survival means little without art and connection, which is a unique and vital trait of human existence.
Who is V. and why does Arthur write to her?
V. is a woman from Arthur’s home, Delano Island. After Arthur leaves Delano Island for Toronto, he often writes letters to V. describing his new life and his complicated feelings regarding leaving his home. Arthur believes V. will understand his predicament, as she is from his island and therefore shares his understanding of both its beauties and its limitations. However, it becomes clear through Arthur’s letters that V. is less responsive than he would hope, and he tells her that he feels she is not upholding her side of the friendship. Years later, when Arthur is very famous, V.—whose full name is Victoria—sells Arthur’s letters, and they are published as a celebrity gossip book entitled “Dear V.” Arthur believes that V. likely sold his letters for money, but also understands that the relationship was always fairly one-sided—she rarely wrote him back, and he recognizes that his letters to her were more like diary entries than an actual attempt at friendship or communication. While V. releasing Arthur’s correspondence is a breach of privacy, Arthur is not entirely the victim in this scenario. For his entire life, Arthur exhibits a problematic tendency to foist his emotional problems onto women, expecting them to help him work through his own identity crises and complex feelings without ever returning the favor. Arthur jumps from wife to wife, tiring of one once he realizes she is not the solution to his emotional dysregulation, and becoming enamored with the next, believing that her presence in his life will refresh and revive him. Just like Arthur often uses his wives for emotional labor, he also uses V. for the same reason, even though she clearly does not feel they have a sincere or mutually beneficial friendship.
What is The Prophet’s real identity?
The Prophet is a young, dogmatic religious leader who terrorizes his community in the post-pandemic world through violence and severe religious practices. The Prophet uses and distorts Abrahamic narratives as the basis for his religious cult, but he’s also obsessed with the Station Eleven comic books and finds divine meaning in them along with the Bible. As the main antagonist of the novel, The Prophet plays an important role in Kirsten’s life and the post-pandemic world, and he represents one of the many ways that people deal with traumatic situations—in his case, it’s to seek to control a chaotic situation through violence and manipulation. The Prophet is connected to the pre-pandemic world through his parents, Arthur Leander and Elizabeth Colton. Elizabeth was Arthur’s wife—for whom he left Miranda—and they had a son together, Arthur’s only child. This is why Tyler has access to the obscure Station Eleven comics: his parents are connected to the creator, Miranda. Before the flu, Tyler Leander was mainly raised by his mother in Israel. When the pandemic hits during Tyler’s childhood, he, his mother, and their family friend Clark Thompson are trapped in an airport, which becomes a safe place the flu never reaches. Elizabeth believes that their survival was an act of divine intervention. This sets Tyler down the path of believing that only a special group of divinely chosen people have survived. He follows this thread into an increasingly fervent religious ideology, eventually setting out from the airport to become The Prophet.
How does the society of the Severn City Airport survive?
When news of the pandemic reaches the public, the Severn City Airport is used as a holding facility as chaos ensues. Everyone who is at the airport or whose planes were diverted to Severn City, which includes Clark Thompson, Elizabeth Colton, and Tyler Leander, is told to wait there for the time being—the airport is basically put into quarantine. Eventually, it becomes clear that there are no further official plans—workers begin to leave, as do some patrons, but a large number of people decide to stay at the airport due to there being few alternatives. A random stroke of luck finds that the flu hasn’t spread to the people in the airport yet, so if no infected person is allowed inside, the population there is effectively kept safe. In fact, a plane does land at the airport, but it’s implied that there are infected passengers onboard, as no one ever deboards the plane. Everyone inside dies from the flu on the runway, keeping the residents of the airport alive. The survival of everyone at the Severn City Airport comes down mostly to chance. If a single person had contracted the virus before arriving at the airport, they likely all would have died, but luck allowed for their community to survive.
