The Pernicious Prophet
Emily St John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven consists of multiple different timelines, each with their own characters and struggles. However, these chapters are connected by Tyler Leander, more commonly known as the prophet. The progression of the character, Tyler—the beloved son of actor Arthur Leander—is caused by the death surrounding him, leading him from an innocent child, to a disconnected youth, to a ruthless leader.
Since Tyler’s character spans many of the nine books that make up Station Eleven, he has different relationships with the characters in each book. While Tyler as a child is not shown until the ninth book in the last pages of the novel, these chapters show the struggles of Tyler’s early youth; before…show more content… This quotation represents the innocence of Tyler, who, at such a young age, does not represent the gravity of his father’s situation. Tyler does not understand the implications of divorce, and is ultimately disappointed with the lack of connection with his father. This misunderstood disconnection from his family, as well as the trauma of losing his father at a young age greatly contribute to the personality of his future self. Furthermore, Tyler, who is perhaps the only child at the Severn City Airport and now with a strong connection to death due to his father’s death at a young age and his witnessing of the death of civilization, his drawn to connect with the only people he can relate to: the dead people on the Air Gradia flight. In Year Two at the airport, Clark witnesses Tyler reading to the deceased. The narrator confirms that Tyler is reading the book of Revelations from the Bible. Tyler reads, “One day her plagues will overtake her. Death, mourning, famine” (Mandel 259). Not only is Tyler reading to the dead, but he is reading about the
