Humanity redeems itself from catastrophe in the form of ingenuity. Through the creation of art and contribution to society, populations make life sufficient enough to live. This form of redemption is apparent is Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. After the world is infected by a virus called the Georgian Flu, those who survive must find a way to fulfill their lives on Earth. Art is used to remind them of their humanity, of their civilization. The world becomes so local after the plague and art is the escape. It provides connection, perspective, and most of all, hope that there is more to be discovered. Mandel argues that ingenuity constitutes a sufficient life and that this provides a form of redemption for individuals. Acting is a
With all this forgetting, we've also forgotten that God gave Adam and Eve a chance to recreate a world mirroring the beauty and goodness of the lost one. Yet, as their heirs, we've constructed an earth where "we live inside a history that no longer remembers us." Weigl wonders if we reinvent history to give ourselves identity, rendering ourselves powerless because we're unconscious of our present. He examines human suffering, hedonism, and desire, wondering if we can re-learn how to love, be loved, and forgive. As a mature poet working at the height of his craft, Weigl writes that we must weed out "the snare of the devil in our hearts" to pass through the visible end of the twentieth century bravely, with grace.
In both stories, however, edify human over dependency on technology lead to dismiss basic living skills, oust humanity, and eventually lead to mankind devastate. Bradbury and Forster both accentuate the absurd life, colourless generation, and mindlessness world we may end up when technology is dominant over humanity, when machine is controlling our lives. Bradbury writes, “…even as the sun rose to shine upon the heaped rubble and steam (Bradbury 4)”, after the fire accidence destroys the house, the sun still rises. The rising sun is an allusion to rebirth, and a new start, which implies chances for human. Similarly, Forster writes, “Humanity has learnt its lesson. (Forster 26)” Through both stories, Bradbury and Forster guide people to revaluate the meaning of human values, and humanity in our lives, reconsider the depth of technology should plant in our living, and remember the meaning of truly
Shute in his novel, On the Beach, provides many insights on humanities’ inability to comprehend its own demise regardless of the apparent inevitability and/or proximity of ones extermination. He effectively presents this psychological shortcoming of disbelief by delineating the common coping mechanism that is shared by all of the characters: The desire to work and maintain a progressive outlook towards ones future options. Work serves as a blinder or shield from the characters near termination by exercising the same routine that was typical behavior previous to the discernment of the soon-coming apocalypse. Thus, the characters in On the Beach find salvation and consolation through work by using it as an illusion of desired normalcy in midst of disordered chaos.
In the novel Station Eleven the author Emily St. John Mandel uses characters and different situations throughout the book to show us how humans are able to resilience.
In the essay “Say Everything” written by Emily Nussbaum, the author presents the argument that young people in this generation do not have a sense of privacy and tend to post whatever they like on the internet. She presents 3 different ideas of what happens when young adults are on the internet.
The human experience is a special one; The conscious human ability to observe and perceive the world in ways beyond simple or primary observation was brought upon by the rapid evolution of humans, and has helped us grow into the modern beings we are: complex; layered; empathetic, and thoughtful. With these uncommon and advanced qualities comes the realization that there are many ways of viewing our world (man’s world), for all humans develop consciousness; and each individual is shaped by the experiences, knowledge and wisdom of both themselves and others. This quarter we analyzed the theme: a different view of man’s world, through various forms of literature including: Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka,
Emily St. John Mandel’s book, “Station Eleven” and “The Giver” is a dystopian novel. These two books are widely creative and fictional. “Station Eleven” shows of how an epidemic can change society and “The Giver” shows the controlling and the government of how it can affect society. In the beginning of, “Station Eleven,” there is a leading actor, Arthur Leander, who is dying from a heart attack. This is just beginning of the epidemic, known as the Georgian Flu. It wipes out the whole civilization. The book then skips forward to the present to a woman, Kirsten, who was eight when she was on stage with Arthur Leander and is now trying to make her way in a world that 's been dealt with the epidemic. Kirsten doesn’t remember much of from this
While survival is the bare minimum for society, the human need for self-actuality, to discover who one is both individually and collectively, has been deeply ingrained into the human psyche for as long as humans have walked the Earth. Another way the topic of rebuilding can be approached is getting rid of those things which were detriments to society before, and may still continue to be detriments to fledgeling society after the cataclysmic event. The common desires for sexual intercourse, for example, can be misused in the form of assault, rape, and other very dark mediums of sexual encounter. To conclude, society can be defined as its own character within the wider scope of plot in Station Eleven, but more as a neutral party in some ways, a good medium giving hope and remembrance to the good things of the society past, and of malicious intentions, like lusting for power in the form of the prophet, as well as the somewhat “clingy” aspects of the Travelling Symphony, using the work of another rather than creating work of their own in a new
15 year old Stephen, and his dad, are the only ones who are alive in their family after the Eleventh Plague. When they both find a downed plane in the woods, two older men with their slaves fight Stephen and his dad. After running from the men, Stephen’s dad falls 30 feet off a gorge into a river here he hits his head and falls into a long lasting coma. While Stephen is trying to help his dad, a few strangers offer to take him back to their camp. Stephen accepts their offer and goes to their town called Settler’s Landing. At Settler’s Landing, Stephen’s dad is being taken care of Victoria, an old military doctor, who believes that she can’t make the world better, but she make someone’s life better “One patient at a time”
To live in a world without sacred, shining moments is like breathing air without oxygen. It is these moments that fill us with hope and put meaning into our lives. In a modern sense, the world we once knew is now dull, without meaning or purpose. This idea is often regarded to as nihilism, which is the belief that “nothing really matters.” It is the lack of a firm grounding or belief system that guides our decisions. The authors of All Things Shining give indication that they dislike the idea of nihilism and believe that acts of heroism are the only sacred shining moments left in our secular age. The authors further suggest that their goals are to replace this complete absence of hope with new reason and abandon all despair, which will in-turn encourage others to pursue a meaningful life.
Whether a warning to or a reflection on society, the book stimulates thought and forces the reader to look inward at his or her own...
”The focus of the book is on extraordinary human evil. The focus on human evil writ large is not about the isolated, tabloid cases of
People’s lives are constantly changing, and the changes could be small or massive. I have chosen to explore the theme ‘My World has been Turned Upside Down.’ This theme is portrayed in the novel The Hunger Game, by Suzanne Collins; the short story The Sniper, by Liam O’Flaherty, an advertisement for State Insurance, shot by Nathan Price and the visual text Aliens directed by James Cameron. The texts The Hunger Game and The Sniper have the common connection of killing people and keeping themselves alive. In the texts The Aliens and The Hunger Game they are connected because the main characters both need to save loved people and take massive risks. As well as the similarities there are also contrasts among these texts. The difference between
We watch death explore the beauty and ugliness of the human race in Markus Zusak’s book The Book Thief. We watch as Liesel, Hans, and Rosa do everything they can to help out a group of people who were treated with such disrespect during this time period. This group, the Jews, were beaten for taking food that was given to them, and when they died no one would even care. But, these few people gave them food, a place to hide, a sense of belonging, and and a reason to live. They have to work day and night, and do everything they can. Even though people aren’t so beautiful at all times, there is still hope. As we have learned in this book that even when 99 percent of humans aren’t so marvelous there is still that one percent that is to delightful that it would touch anyones heart.
Beyond the shield of civilization and into the depths of a primitive, untamed frontier lies the true face of the human soul. It is in the midst of this savagery and unrelenting danger that mankind confronts the brooding nature of his inner self.