Immediately upon reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, the reader is introduced to a few characters. A brief introduction into chapter one would be about a play several of the characters are in. The first few pages are focused mostly on the character Arthur Leander. Arthur seemed to have died from what was likely to be a heart attack while acting on stage in a play. An indicator that it was likely a heart attack would be the quote, “He cradled his hand to his chest like a broken bird” (Mandel, Page 1).

Jeevan Chaudhary, presumably Arthur’s friend, had ran to the stage to the surprise of security and the audience when he saw that there was clearly something wrong with Arthur. Upon reaching the stage, he caught Arthur just as he was falling over. Around then is when everyone on stage, including Jeevan realized that Arthur’s heart was not beating, so Jeevan began administering CPR. The text surrounding this scene depicted a grim picture. “The plastic snow was still falling. The security men had receded. The lights changed, the blues and whites of the snowstorm replaced by a fluorescent glare that seemed yellow in comparison” (Mandel, Page 2) sets a cold mood for the scene. A cardiologist from the audience named Walter Jacobi also entered the stage to tend to Arthur, but it was clear that he would not be able to do anything. When the medics arrived, Arthur was officially pronounced dead at 9:14pm.

Jeevan leaves the theatre and walks around the city for quite some time and reflects on many things. The experience he had trying to revive Arthur with CPR had convinced him he wanted to be a paramedic after several different career changes. He is interrupted when his close friend, Hua calls him informing him about a sickness at his hospital. Hua explains how a flight from Moscow carried many passengers that were sick. He explains how there is a new epidemic, the Georgia Flu that is spreading very quickly. He advises Jeevan to leave the city, or to stockpile food and stay in his apartment. Hua explains how an employee at the hospital has gotten sick only a few hours after treating a patient with the sickness and how urgent it is Jeevan leaves. Laura seemed to think Jeevan was being paranoid, as did the clerk at the grocery store. Jeevan instead of going home, went to his brother’s house with a stockpile of food and water and told Laura to leave the city because of the threat. Laura did not take him seriously and thought he was being very paranoid, or was having a panic attack.