Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Station Eleven, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death and Survival
Faith and Fate
Civilization
Memory
Art
Summary
Analysis
After receiving the news of Arthur’s death, Miranda sits on the beach for a while, thinking about Arthur. Slowly, she begins to realize that she is tired and feeling slightly ill. She heads back to the lobby, which is deserted, and receives a look of terror from an employee. She then makes her way up to her room and turns on the news.
While Miranda thinks about Arthur’s death, she starts becoming sick, as the symptoms of the flu that will lead to her death are beginning to show. The news will bring her information that Arthur’s death is just one of millions that day.
Themes
Once she is aware of the Flu and the emerging collapse, it is too late for her to leave Malaysia, since all of the airports are closed. As Miranda starts feeling sicker and sicker, she tells herself that it’s just in her head, and begins working on Station Eleven to calm herself.
The flu has spread even to Malaysia, and already the connectivity of civilization is severed, stranding Miranda there. Even in the face of a collapse of civilization and the potential loss of her own life, Miranda still turns to her art for comfort and stability.
Themes
At four in the morning, Miranda awakes with a fever and aches and pains. She struggles to make her way across the room to her desk and laptop, and when she reads the latest news, she understands what’s happening to her. In her feverous delirium, she decides that staying in the room will only make her sicker, that she needs to leave now before she’s unable to, and that at the beach, someone might be able to help her. She staggers through the hotel, extremely weakened by the Georgia Flu. At one point she sees a sick man curled up on the floor, and looks at him in an attempt to communicate solidarity. The lobby is empty, as the hotel staff has fled.
Miranda is extremely sick with the Georgia Flu, which she fully understands when she reads the latest news. The moment with the sick man on the floor is sad and profound. While both are suffering and likely to die, Miranda still communicates and makes the effort to tell the man that she cares, she understands, and she feels his pain. Even in the face of death and extreme pain, Mandel shows a profound link between human beings, even total strangers.
Themes
Outside, Miranda sees the beginning of sunrise. Though she is very weak, she makes it to the beach, where she passes out alone. She becomes utterly exhausted and extremely hot, then very cold, as well as delirious and confused. No one comes to help her. For a moment, she thinks about the fleet of boats on the horizon, wondering if the crew on the boats has managed to avoid being exposed to the Flu. It makes her happy knowing that some people in the world are safe. She has just enough energy to open her eyes and watch the sunrise, which brilliantly illuminates the sky and sends Miranda into visions of Station Eleven before she dies on the beach.
While most of civilization is collapsing and billions are dying, Miranda is comforted by the idea that some people might be safe, continuing the emphasis on the connection of human beings and value on human life. Even in the moments of her death, Miranda is comforted by her art, as she hallucinates Station Eleven and her drawings as she watches the sunrise in her delirium.
Themes
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