Station Eleven

Mandel has questioned Station Eleven’s categorization as science fiction (@emilymandel. “@RonCharles Great piece. I actually don't think of Station Eleven as sci-fi, but am fully prepared to concede that I may be alone in this...” Twitter, 15 Oct. 2014, 7:25 a.m.). Although the novel does not feature any fictional technology, it does exhibit many characteristics of postapocalyptic fiction, which is usually considered a sub-genre of science fiction. How should Mandel’s novel be categorized? Can it be considered postapocalyptic without being science fiction? What are the implications for the reader?

In Station Eleven, characters’ stories are told non-chronologically. Why might Mandel have arranged the narrative as she did? What literary effects and meanings does this produce?

In what ways do Tyler and Kirsten serve as foil characters to one another? How does this impact their different outcomes in the post-pandemic world?

Following the collapse, various objects take on added significance as relics. Identify one or more objects that someone in the novel chooses to preserve and analyze their significance: What value do characters derive from preserving them?

Several scenes in Station Eleven have spiritual, religious, or supernatural undertones. Taken together, what is the novel’s message about the search for spirituality? What forms of spirituality are present, and what constitutes a truly spiritual life?

A number of communities form in the aftermath of the collapse. Consider the relationship between community and civilization: what makes a community civilized or not?

Does Station Eleven have a single or multiple protagonists? Which character(s) should be considered as protagonists, and why?

Those that survive the collapse are forced to develop a different relationship with nature than existed before the collapse. What is Station Eleven’s commentary on human ecological activity? Are any of the changes brought about the collapse beneficial? Is the awe that some characters feel for human technology at odds with a newfound natural balance?