Station Eleven: A Look at the Subconscious

A literary archetype is a recurring image or pattern that reflect the subconscious parts of the mind in a narrative. They establish a sense of realism in the text by incorporating familiar character types, narrative structure, or symbols into the story. By examining a piece of literature through an archetypal lens, the reader can attempt to uncover the nature of the human race. This post will seek to explore the patterns found in Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and to discover the subliminal messages being conveyed through these archetypes.

Robert Neville courageously survives the epidemic and tries the cure the human race with a vaccine.
“I Am Legend: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson: Amazon Digital Services LLC.” Amazon, Amazon, www.amazon.com/I-Am-Legend-Will-Smith/dp/B0014CDKVY.

Perhaps the most direct portrayal of a hero is Kirsten Raymonde, a young survivor of the Georgian Flu and a performer in the Travelling Symphony; more specifically, an apocalyptic heroine who faces the oncoming devastation of humanity caused by a disastrous dystopian epidemic. Other recognisable apocalyptic hero archetypes in modern media include Robert Neville from the film I Am Legend (2007) and Beth Greene from the television series The Walking Dead (2010 - present). These characters are analogous because they’ve each shown courage in the face of a major outbreak threatening the survival of the human race.

Kirsten may be young, but her life experiences make her a heroic figure in Station Eleven. The tattoos on her body are indications of the hardships she has endured growing up a world where civilisation has been decimated: “Survival is insufficient: Kirsten has these words tattooed on her left forearm at the age of fifteen… [she] also had two black knives tattooed on the back of her right wrist.”(Mandel 119). The first tattoo is a quote from Star Trek as well as an indication of Kirsten’s resilient mindset; the knives, Mandel explains, mark specific events - the times she has killed someone.

During her journey, Kirsten is accompanied by the other members of the Travelling Symphony composed of  “twenty-odd people, three caravans, and seven horses” (Mandel 146). These companions represent the next archetype: the Hunting Group Of Companions. They are loyal friends and colleagues that will endure any calamity to stay united. The members of the Symphony stick together, taking care of one another and sharing their resources so that nobody gets left behind. Another portrayal of this archetype can be found in Disney’s Lilo and Stitch - Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

The ultimate challenge is a critical part of a hero's journey.
Winkler, Matthew. “What Makes a Hero? - Matthew Winkler.” Lessons Worth Sharing | TED-Ed, TED, 4 Dec. 2012, ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-a-hero-matthew-winkler.

Further, Kirsten’s quest in search of discovering her own identity follows a discernible archetypal plotline, the Hero’s Journey. Kirsten is only seven years old at the time of the collapse, and her journey begins largely without her consent. She is brought up within the Travelling Symphony, learning to survive the harsh realities of her decimated world. At the age of twenty-seven, Kirsten has matured into a fully independent young lady. However, she has yet to face the ultimate challenge that will propel her to achieve her lifelong goals. In the remaining third of the book, Kirsten is expected to overcome a transformational event where she finally pieces together the clues to her past, discovering her true identity.

Notable archetypal symbols found in Station Eleven include light and darkness. Light is used ubiquitously in literature to symbolise hope or intellectual and spiritual enlightenment. Contrastingly,  darkness implies despair, ignorance, and ambiguity. The members of the Symphony exhibit the human tendency to befriend the light and fear the darkness. They travel during the day, and set up camp during the night, taking guard shifts until the sun rises again at dawn. They are always wary of who or what is hiding in the shadows of the trees and refuse to venture into that unknown. Even the mysterious disappearance of Dieter and Sayid occurs in the dead of night when searches are nearly impossible, forcing the remaining members of the Symphony to move on without them.  

Light is an important archetypal symbol and is often linked to the divine.
Diarioalicante. “AsLa Religión Católica En España.” â–· Diario Online De Alicante - 【Noticias】» Sucesos, ÚLtima Hora Noticias, 12 Feb. 2018, diarioalicante.es/asla-religion-catolica-espana/.

In addition, Mandel incorporates the theme of light versus darkness when it comes to the prophet, but this time, paradoxically. In chapter 19, Eleanor recounts the arrival of the prophet and the religious wanderers in Saint Deborah by the Waters. The self-proclaimed diviner had come to “spread his message of the light” (Mandel 125), a promise to provide enlightenment to his followers. Later on, Kirsten makes a remark: “‘They call themselves the light… If you are light, your enemies are darkness and there is nothing you cannot justify. There’s nothing you can’t survive because there is nothing you will not do.’”(Mandel 139). Mandel chose to juxtapose the symbol of light with the seemingly devilish prophet, but the message is quite clear: Light is power. Light is hope.

Like in most pieces of literature, Station Eleven is full of easily recognisable archetypes. They are universally accepted symbols and narrative structures that make the story more desirable to larger audiences. As consumers, we find it most comfortable to eat familiar foods and listen to familiar music. The same applies to prominent novels, poems and fairytale stories, they are all easily digestible to the reader. Take a look at some of your own favourite narratives to identify literary archetypes. It might help to explain why you find them so compelling.

As always, happy learning! ;)

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Take a look at this TED-ed video about the phases of the Hero's Journey!

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Visit this link ( https://www.hccfl.edu/media/724354/archetypesforliteraryanalysis.pdf ) for additional resources regarding the literary archetypes!