Art Theme Analysis

In contrast to modern technological civilization, which Station Eleven portrays as fragile, the novel presents art as something that endures. The first scene of the book (which takes place on the evening of the collapse) and the first scene after the collapse both feature Shakespeare’s famous play King Lear (one a performance, the other a rehearsal). The message is clear: even after the collapse of civilization and the death of billions, art remains. Art is powerful enough to survive the epidemic, in part because it isn’t reliant on technology or modernity. But even more so, the novel implies, art survives because it is so vital and so inextricably connected to human life. Art offers people a way to understand the world and a way to connect to a world now gone. It offers a way to connect to each other – artist to audience, and audience member to audience member, and might even be said to offer a way for an artist to connect to his or her own self – as Miranda seems to explore, process, and escape her own life through her art. And, finally, art connects people to the shared history of humanity. The people watching King Lear after the collapse, despite the hardships of their lives and the world they know they’ve lost, still feel themselves part of the human story.

Art may not be necessary to basic survival – to just staying alive – but the novel focuses on the idea that for humans, “survival is insufficient.” As the novel portrays it, the insufficiency of mere survival could be described as what makes us human. Or, put another way, it is the human instinct to create and celebrate art that makes us human. Art, therefore, will endure so long as humanity does, and humanity will endure so long as art does.