Clark Thompson Character Analysis in Station Eleven

Clark is Arthur’s best friend. Once an aspiring actor along with Arthur, Clark’s career eventually leads him to become a job training executive in the years before the collapse. After the collapse he is stranded, along with Elizabeth Colton and Tyler, in the Severn City airport. After a few years there, be begins curating the Museum of Civilization in the airport, collecting technological items that no longer work and other fragments of civilization. He begins the museum since his boyfriend at the time was a curator, and since he noticed that people in the airport seemed to cling to the obsolete items that he collects. Clark makes some effort to help Elizabeth and Tyler and keep them from becoming extremists, but he ultimately gives up in favor of self-preservation. He is also the one who informs Miranda of Arthur’s death, having met her at the party during which Miranda realized Arthur was having an affair. The novel ends with Clark reading a scene in “Dr. Eleven” based on this dinner party.

Clark Thompson Quotes in Station Eleven

The Station Eleven quotes below are all either spoken by Clark Thompson or refer to Clark Thompson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of Station Eleven published in 2015.

I think about my childhood, the life I lived on Delano Island, that place was so small. Everyone knew me, not because I was special or anything just because everyone knew everyone, and the claustrophobia of that, I can't tell you. I just wanted some privacy. For as long as I could remember I just wanted to get out, and then I got to Toronto and no one knew me. Toronto felt like freedom.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 223

Explanation and Analysis:

She stepped back. “It isn't possible,” she said.
“But there it is. Look again.”
In the distance, pinpricks of light arranged into a grid. There, plainly visible on the side of a hill some miles distant: a town, or a village, whose streets were lit up with electricity.

Related Characters: ,

Page Number and Citation: 311

Explanation and Analysis:

Clark Thompson Character Timeline in Station Eleven

The timeline below shows where the character Clark Thompson appears in Station Eleven. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...their company’s shipping fleet, which is dormant due to the recession. She is notified by Clark Thompson, Arthur’s friend, whom she remembers meeting at a dinner party in Los Angeles when... (full context)

...taking acting classes and going to auditions. In the classes he meets his best friend Clark, and the two party and enjoy life until Clark goes to England for university and... (full context)

Near Miranda, Clark Thompson is talking to a woman named Tesch, who is pretentiously asking him what he... (full context)

...Tesch transitions to a personal story about when she was in “Praha,” at which point Clark interjects that she can call it “Prague” in English. Elizabeth Colton, Arthur’s co-star and the... (full context)

...the way that Elizabeth looks at Arthur and touches his arm. Miranda turns away and Clark comes out for a cigarette. Miranda has realized that Arthur and Elizabeth are having an... (full context)

...the beginning of a letter to Arthur’s friend V, and finds the glass paperweight that Clark brought that night as a gift. She takes the paperweight and decides to keep it... (full context)

A year before the Flu, Arthur and Clark have dinner in London. By this point, Arthur has a son with his second wife... (full context)

...fallen in love with someone else: Elizabeth Colton. He also writes of a dinner with Clark and Elizabeth, which was a bit awkward since the last time Clark was there was... (full context)

This chapter takes place before the Flu. It begins with Elizabeth Colton calling Clark to notify him of the impending publication of the book Dear V. Apparently, she says,... (full context)

After the phone call ends, Clark runs to a meeting. He is doing executive consulting for a company near Grand Central... (full context)

A little while later, Miranda realizes she forgot to give Arthur the paperweight that Clark Thompson brought to the dinner party in Los Angeles eleven years earlier. She studies it... (full context)

...money, so there is a surplus of shipping space. Suddenly, she receives a call from Clark Thomson, Arthur’s oldest friend. Clark informs her that Arthur died on stage. (full context)

In New York, Clark hangs up the phone and pauses before moving on to calling Elizabeth Colton. During the... (full context)

The conversation with Elizabeth is short. Clark informs her of the news, and tells her that the will dictated specifically that the... (full context)

The next day, Clark wakes up early and heads to the airport. Though he doesn’t know it yet, he... (full context)

...in years after the collapse. Near the end of his second decade in the airport, Clark thinks about how lucky he has been to survive, and to see one world end... (full context)

Clark often says to young people who come into his museum, “it’s hard to explain.” But... (full context)

...in the airport walked there or were born there. But there are some people, like Clark, who have lived there since the day their flights landed. While Clark’s plane was in... (full context)

...everyone hungry, so the people of Concourse B line up at the one restaurant. Meanwhile, Clark goes to the Skymiles Lounge and finds Elizabeth Colton next to Tyler, who is playing... (full context)

As Clark and Elizabeth sit in the Skymiles Lounge, a final airplane lands, but it is moved... (full context)

The people in the airport are generally in shock. Clark finds and reads Arthur’s obituary in the New York Times, and tries to figure out... (full context)

Some time later, while Clark is watching NBC, a teenager approaches him and asks if he has any Effexor, an... (full context)

To comfort himself, Clark thinks ahead to a time when he and Robert can sit and talk about how... (full context)

...City Airport. As the time reaches the point when the plane is probably approaching LA, Clark thinks of his memories of the city, including the awkward dinner party at Arthur’s house.... (full context)

A little while later, Clark and Elizabeth discuss the end of civilization. She doesn’t believe that it has truly come... (full context)

In order to maintain appearances, Clark is careful to shave every three days. He believes that this will help prevent crime... (full context)

To maintain his sanity, Clark trains himself not to think about and not to look at certain things. He tries... (full context)

Without artificial light, the night sky is brighter than anyone can remember seeing. Clark at first questions if the brilliance of the Milky Way is his own imagination, but... (full context)

Dolores wonders why no one has ever arrived at the airport. With Garrett, Annette, and Clark, she discusses the possible horrors occurring out in the world. Silently, Tyler wanders in and... (full context)

...the morning of Day One Hundred. In the tension of waiting for them to return, Clark wonders what Robert would do if he were there. At this point, he arrives at... (full context)

...living in the airport, and the Museum of Civilization has filled the Skymiles Lounge. Earlier, Clark had to work constantly on the everyday tasks of survival. But now that he is... (full context)

Included in the Museum are Elizabeth and Tyler’s passports, which they gave to Clark before leaving in Year Two. He reflects on them as unsetting people, remembering an incident... (full context)

After this creepy interaction, Clark tried to confront Elizabeth, but she agreed with Tyler and clearly had given him the... (full context)

...The Traveling Symphony and an interview by François Diallo of Kirsten Raymonde. In the interview, Clark reads Kirsten’s retelling of Arthur’s death, and becomes shocked to encounter someone who also knew... (full context)

In Year Nineteen, Clark is seventy years old. His friend Annette has died two years ago. Recently, Clark made... (full context)

...a long silence, Garrett asks, as he has many times, if he has ever told Clark about his last phone call. Though he was married with two children at the time... (full context)

Lately, Clark has been spending more time in the past, getting lost in his memories. He falls... (full context)

Later, she meets Clark Thompson, who recognizes her as Kirsten Raymond. They have apparently been introduced before. Clark says... (full context)

...old neighborhood. There, he finds a café he used to frequent and thinks about calling Clark, but decides against it. (full context)

...of performing and resting. Kirsten has given one of her “Dr. Eleven” comics books to Clark to keep in the Museum of Civilization, so that if something happens to hers, there... (full context)

In the evening after the Symphony has left, Clark finishes cleaning the Museum of Civilization and sits down to read the adventures of Dr.... (full context)

In the comic book, Dr. Eleven has his arms crossed, lost in thought. Clark remembers the dinner party in vivid detail and wonders what ever happened to Miranda. He... (full context)