Upon reading “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel, I was lost. There were many events that I did not grasp. I could only understand what I believe are the main points; The death Arthur Leander and this probable epidemic of the “Georgia Flu.” The two events will create problems throughout part one of the novel.
Arthur Leander dies on stage during their performance/play. It appears that Arthur suffered from a heart attack, since he was squeezing his chest before he fell (Page 1-2, Paragraph 5). It was obvious to say that everyone was shocked of what had occur. Some of the people on stage tried to bring him back to life. Many people of the audience thought it was part of the play until I believe one or two people, doctors, from the audience came up on stage to check on Arthur’s condition. It was there it was declared that he had died. It impacted everyone who worked with him because they were all very close to him and to be able to try to save his life. By chapter three it get stranger.
The appearance of the Georgia Flu. After when Arthur passed away some of his colleagues were discussing about the Georgia Flu and that was spreading fast, “We’ve admitted over two hundred flu patients since this morning” (Page 18 paragraph 9). The terrifying news about is that it can kill you, “A hundred and sixty in the past three hours. Fifteen of them have died.” There seems to be a coincidence of when Arthur died from his heart attack later people are dying from this flu. I believe the narrator is trying to make a connection with Arthur and flu, but I do not understand if there is another connection being made here.
As far as I can understand, many of the people who were act the scene of Arthur’s death were calling their loved ones of what had happened. Later people were discussing that their loved ones should leave the area so they would not get the flu. Once I caught up to chapter six is when I thought people are dying. The narrator is giving out a list of tasks or activities that have not been complete. The narrator repeats “no more..” throughout the chapter has if nothing in this list exists anymore. I believe in this chapter the narrator has declared that life as we know is gone. There is no more police, no more countries, no more cities, no more pharmaceuticals, no more internet (Page 31-32). This shows that there is no more a government to run, no more protection, no more civilization, there is no way to communicate with others. All of this are signs that a apocalypse has arrived to the world.
