Station Eleven is a fictional dystopian novel by Emily St. John Mandel. The novel describes the life experiences of people before and after a deadly flu pandemic devastates society. In the aftermath, the novel follows a troupe of actors and musicians called the Traveling Symphony, who travel around the Great Lakes region and perform music and plays in the small towns of survivors that are left. Throughout the novel, Mandel explores the importance of the arts. Despite the dangers of the world post-apocalypse and the necessity of carrying weapons while traveling in order to protect themselves, the members of the Traveling Symphony ultimately believe that they are doing something noble by keeping art alive. The inhabitants of the small towns have suffered greatly and are not very welcoming to strangers, but many still welcome the Symphony, whose performances draw large crowds and evoke emotional responses. Besides the Symphony, the Museum of Civilization also takes form, in which reminders of the past, such as cellphones and motorcycles, are preserved for future generations.
The nature of the flu that Mandel describes in the novel is extremely similar to the outbreaks of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 that we have seen in the past two decades. Although COVID-19 has not been quite as destructive as the flu in Mandel’s novel, there are similarities in the way that the characters in the novel and people in real life have responded to these diseases. In both cases, the diseases have evoked a lot of fear and chaos. Although COVID-19 has not caused society to collapse and technology has not been lost, people in America, like the characters in Mandel’s novel, have turned to the arts to seek comfort and distraction during these uncertain times. An article by UN News notes that, despite the negative impact that COVID-19 has had on the arts, such as the great financial losses that have resulted from the closure of museums and the cancellation of concerts, art has flourished throughout quarantine. Performers have adapted to new health guidelines and explored online options, neighbors have sung to each other out on balconies, and people have spent more time on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. If it was not obvious before, COVID-19 has definitely highlighted the power and importance of the arts, as it has mentally and emotionally brought people together. The importance of the arts goes beyond merely bringing people together and providing comfort though. An article by Psychology Today notes how closely entwined art and culture are, stating that, “Art reflects culture, transmits culture, shapes culture, and comments on culture.” A paper by the American Planning Association further explains the connection between art and culture, stating that healthy communities preserve their history and develop new expressions for current times through art. Art offers a way through which stories can be told and community identity can be expressed. Certain types of art media, like paintings and novels, are physical reminders of culture that can last for centuries. Even if electricity and the Internet fail, as occurred in Station Eleven, art can live on. Lastly, an article by HuffPost adds that art in general is essential for the human spirit, as it makes you think and feel things, transports you to another place, and shows what words cannot. Despite the essential role that art plays within cultures, careers in the arts are often underappreciated and stigmatized. As USA Today reports, there has been a de-emphasis on liberal arts programs, as society tends to favor science, engineering, and other disciplines that are viewed as essential. In highlighting the importance of the arts in society in her novel, especially following the pandemic, the future that Mandel paints is optimistic – even though society has been devastated, the arts have survived and thrived, proving them to be just as essential as, if not even more essential than, science and engineering. However, the future of the arts in the real world remains uncertain – although COVID-19 has brought to light the importance of the arts, can the arts recover from the great financial losses that the pandemic has caused? Will its importance be elevated, or will it continue to be underappreciated and underfunded?
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Future Home of the Living God is a fictional novel by Louise Erdrich, an Ojibwe author. The novel is formatted as a series of journal entries written by a woman named Cedar, who is using them to document her pregnancy and struggles during a confusing time period in which evolution appears to be reversing. Throughout the novel, Erdrich explores the topic of women’s rights, particularly in the context of reproduction. Women are the main focus of the novel, as they are giving birth to babies that are seemingly the product of devolution. As a result of the mass fear and hysteria that this mysterious phenomenon elicits, pregnant women are imprisoned, and it is implied that their babies are either killed or experimented on. The situation ultimately progresses to the extent that any woman who is of childbearing age and commits a small crime, like running a stoplight or jaywalking, is taken and forcibly artificially inseminated. Similar to the real world, the government in Erdrich’s novel appears to be largely controlled by men, who are making these decisions about women’s bodies.
Although derived from a fictional stressor, the imprisonment of pregnant women and violation of women’s rights are eerily reminiscent of real-world events, both past and present, all around the globe. As the National Women's History Alliance notes, women in the U.S. have only gained the right to vote, to own property, to receive higher education, and to enter professions like medicine and law within the past two centuries. Even then, women’s rights in the U.S. have been complicated by issues of race, so even as white women gained more equality in the eyes of the law and society, women of color and indigenous women did not benefit as much. Women from other parts of the world may not even have these rights at all. Presently, women’s rights issues in the U.S. include women’s enrollment in military service, sexual harassment, and reproductive rights. As the Center for Reproductive Rights notes, reproductive health care services address so much more than just abortion. They also address contraception, pregnancy care, sex education, domestic violence resources, affordable childcare, and prevention of forced sterilization and female genital mutilation. However, even in terms of abortion, which is legal and constitutionally protected, these services are often difficult to acquire or are stigmatized. These services are not guaranteed either, as politicians and lawmakers have been working to overturn Roe v. Wade and cut off access to reproductive health care services like those offered by Planned Parenthood. Amnesty International provides startling facts about world reproductive health that also apply to the U.S., such as that 47,000 pregnant women die every year due to complications from unsafe abortions and more than 14 million teenage girls give birth every year, mainly as a result of rape or unwanted pregnancy. Thus, reproductive rights are definitely a valid but uncertain topic currently. Given the state of affairs Erdrich describes and the unhappy ending of the novel, in which Cedar is indefinitely imprisoned and her baby is taken from her, she does not offer a positive commentary on the future of women’s rights. While the reversal of evolution does not seem likely in the real world, it is quite possible that women could lose their rights, especially concerning reproduction, or that women’s rights in general could never progress enough to ensure that women are truly equal to men in the eyes of the law and society. After all, the government – and men – still exert control over women’s bodies. That being said, is it so unlikely that, if society inevitably collapses due to a pile up of stressors like the current pandemic and climate crisis, women's rights could deteriorate? |
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AuthorHi, I'm Rhi! In these blog posts, I will be exploring and reflecting on common themes found in post-apocalyptic literature. Archives
April 2021
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