Station Eleven Essay Post-Apocalyptic novels are something I would have never picked up on my own, and after reading Station Eleven, I know that I was probably right in that choice. Because we don't know exactly what will cause the downfall of civilization, it's hard to know exactly what the environment will be like. In my eyes, Mandel’s vision of this world was almost too unrealistic. After reading Coming to Terms with the World of Station Eleven, by the Sociology and Anthropology professor, Robert Brenneman, I have realized that I am not alone in thinking this way. He mentions that “Station Eleven is a hideous world, and a world that, I believe, belongs entirely to fiction” (8). …show more content…
In chapter 23, readers learn about the absence of Sayid and Dieter. No one in the Traveling Symphony can wrap their heads around what happened in such a short amount of time. “The disappearances were incomprehensible. They could find no trace” (137). Aside from the mysterious disappearance of two of the main characters, later in the chapter, Kirsten and August lose the symphony while they were off fishing. Even though they wanted to follow the road to find the symphony, they knew it was safer to light a fire in the daylight and get some food in their systems before traveling again. The chapter ends with a quote that is now one of my favorite, “Hell is the absence of the people you long for” (144). I can resonate with this quote because it makes me think of all the times I wanted to be with someone when I was having a problem in my life. A friend, a boyfriend, a family member and most of the time, they were only a call away. But, those times when I couldn’t get ahold of the people I wanted to most, were the times where I felt the most alone. Hell is definitely the absence of the people you long for, especially in a time of need. A situation one is in could be hell, but what makes it even more challenging is when you have no one there to go through it with