Life Worth Living

This is a follow up to the previous question (“Survival is Insufficient”). Do you agree with Mandel? Are there other elements of life that are more worthy? In your opinion, what is life worth living for?

8 thoughts on “Life Worth Living

  1. The definition of “survival”, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, is “the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances.” Now what I find significant about this definition is the use of the word “exist,” as it connotes something very passive, the idea of just being alive. If survival is then as simple as a heart beating and lungs breathing then perhaps the real question is why do we survive? Is it purely human nature or is there always some form of motivation?

    In the event of a pandemic, an apocalypse even, where the world seems to shatter right before one’s very eyes, it seems as though it would be very easy to simply give up. I constantly asked myself while reading this novel, would I be willing to do what Kirsten or Jeevan had to do to survive? Could I kill for my own survival or leave my brother behind? I mean, Kirsten already had two knife tattoos and I’m assuming she got her third. She even says, “It is possible to survive this but not unaltered, and you will carry these men with you through all the nights of your life” (296). It was only upon finishing the book did I realize that there were two essential factors that seemed to make a “life worth living,” purpose and hope.

    We, as readers, are presented with a wide variety of characters that are intricately connected throughout the novel and I initially thought that many of the characters were unnecessary or even excessive. However, when you isolate each character and put them against the ideas of purpose and hope, the more you realize Mandel’s genius behind each and every character. I believe that Clark represents the struggle to find purpose. He had gone through life as a “ghost,” simply going through the motions, just barely surviving. But it is not until we see the birth of the Museum of Civilization that we truly see Clark happy, shaved head and all. And through this discovery of purpose, we also find the discovery of electricity or light.

    Now light was a very prevalent motif in the novel and, despite how cliché this sounds, I believe that light was representative of hope. The motivation to survive cannot just be off of something that drives you or inspires you; there is also a significant element of hope necessary; the belief that tomorrow will be a better day. I believe that the character Tyler represents the importance of hope. I, personally, do not know if I’d still have hope after the Georgia Flu, I mean there wasn’t much to be hopeful about. Yet, we see Tyler create hope for himself. Tyler became the prophet, or at least I think he did, and he believed that “we were saved … not only to bring the light, to spread the light, but to be the light. We were saved because we are the light. We are the pure” (60). He became the light; he essentially became the hope he needs to survive.

    I believe that Clark lived a life worth living and, even though I don’t necessarily agree with his methods of achieving this, Tyler did as well. A “life worth living” is an extremely abstract concept and it’s completely self-defined, but I think it’s the combination of hope and purpose that make life fulfilling. I don’t yet truly know what make’s life worth living for but I think it’s through hardship that we realize what it is that gives us hope, strength, purpose, and happiness because we don’t live simply to survive, “survival is insufficient.”

  2. To me, a life worth living doesn’t necessarily require transcendence or martyrdom or “living big.” A life worth living is simply one in which a person accepts and improves the conditions, rather than wishes for something else.

    As she is putting together her graphic novel, Miranda thinks, “They are always waiting, the people of the undersea. They spend all their lives waiting for their lives to begin” (Mandel 86). Because they are unhappy with their situation, they live in a state of constant anger and resentment, and they don’t even attempt to come to terms with what is now their lifestyle. Instead of exercising an effort to make the best of their circumstances, they simply wait and wait and wait.

    Unlike the people of the undersea, however, Kirsten and the rest of the Traveling Symphony make their lives worth living. Although they undergo difficulty and must at times make decisions that haunt them, music and Shakespeare give them purpose and joy. Once, when August doubts himself and the Symphony, a conversation between him and Kirsten illuminates the central difference between her and the people of the Undersea:
    “There are times when I want to stop,” August whispered. “You ever think about stopping?”
    “You mean not traveling anymore?”
    “You ever think about it? There’s gotta be a steadier life than this.”
    “Sure, but in what other life would I get to perform Shakespeare?” (Mandel 135)
    Kirsten doesn’t yearn for another life (and doesn’t need to) because she has infused her unfortunate life with passion, purpose, and art. She has lost nearly everything, but rather than grieve endlessly for what she no longer has and what she cannot have, she copes with her new life and does all that is in her power to make the best of it.

  3. In my response to the question “Survival is Insufficient”, I noted that Mandel appears to be stating that it is the people whom we love and care for that make life worth living. I agree that it is part of what makes life worth it, but there is more. In my opinion, it is also important to live life for oneself. Finding people that make life worth living is a wonderful thing, but relationships can easily change. People change, people come, people go, and people die. One of the only constants in our lives is ourselves. Perhaps the most important relationship we will ever experience is the one we have with ourselves. If we are not happy with who we are or what we’re doing, that unhappiness stays with us all the time. For example, in Station Eleven, Miranda does not find happiness until she begins to live for herself. When her ex-boyfriend, Pablo send her a message that reads “u know what dont bother coming home”, Miranda “feels a peculiar giddiness” (89). The moment she realizes that she no longer has to shape her life around Pablo, she feels free. The same happens after she divorces Arthur. No longer required to go out in public and attend dinner parties for the sake of Arthur’s image, she feels free enough to travel around the world and do things that she is interested in. In order to lead a life worth living, we must be happy with the people in our lives AND ourselves.

    As to whether or not there are some elements of life more worthy than others, I have no answer. People think life is worth living for a multitude of reasons and it is not my place to define which parts of life are more worthy. Worth is in the eyes of the beholder.

  4. I agree with Mandel that the preservation of art is worth living for, not for the art itself, but more so for the way it acts as a reminder of what humanity is capable of. In the story the art the characters fight to preserve are the Shakespearean plays and classical symphonies of the pre-collapse world. By performing these works of art the members of the Traveling Symphony preserve an important part of pre-collapse life and in a subtle way remind others of their humanity, that not everything must be for survival, In comparison to other elements of life, there could be other methods of reminding people of their humanity, but none would be able to create the raw emotional response that a performed work of art can.

    While this might sound cliché, I believe that life is worth living for others, that the social ties that connect us to those that we truly care about give our lives meaning beyond a secluded existence.

  5. Life and death are polar opposites that have an interesting relationship. I recently lost my grandfather, which has made me think about life and death in different ways. He lived a long, successful life that was full of memories and experiences. As a person who is not spiritual in any way, I accept the glum notion that all of his memories were wiped away as soon as his heart stopped and his brain was deprived of oxygen and all of his personal triumphs became meaningless. Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” suggests that life is a useless occurrence that will lead to an inevitable end and the universe will continue to exist no matter who lives and who dies. This mentality, one that I unfortunately cannot fully disagree with, makes death a sad and scary thing for me. When I die, I will have no comprehension of anything that I have done because my body is not functional anymore.

    Despite feeling this way, I think that Mandel makes an important point when she says that ‘survival is insufficient.’ Sure, death is an inevitability and our feelings and memories will not matter once our lives are over, but why live a sad, basic life because of that? In “Station Eleven”, the traveling symphony helps distraught humans see a more beautiful world; it helps them realize that life is for living, not for dying.

  6. When do our actions exceed the realm of survival? Mandel uses “survival is insufficient” to describe that to have a life worth living one requires more than their basic needs met. However, to survive requires both physical and mental investment, can we survive mentally with purely food, water, and shelter? Researchers have studied the development of children in orphanages who had their basic needs met, but were left alone in cribs with little to no physical contact. The infants suffered a lack in both physical and mental growth and had an increased chance of getting sick. Left without physical contact for an extended period of time, these children could lose the will to survive. I believe having our mental needs met is just as important to our survival as having our physical needs met. If this is essential to our survival, can survival be “insufficient”?

    To determine what makes life worth living for, in a single word, is impossible. Imagine someone declared life was worth living, for love and love alone. But, can love exist by itself? One cannot feel love without feeling pain. Life would lose meaning to someone if they felt a singular emotion. Everything is interconnected and to say that one element of life is more worthy than another is to constrain a life until it has less worth than it did before. Life is worth living for its entirety, for the good and the bad.

  7. The idea of a life worth living is subjective, and reliant on the person in question. For some people, they only thing they can do is survive. According to Maslow’s pyramid of need, it is impossible to make “more” of life unless you first fulfill your basic human needs, such as food, shelter, safety, security. Once you have met these needs, you can learn self-esteem and thus self-actualize. However it is argued that Maslow’s pyramid is misleading and that as humans, we can choose which areas of life we find more worthy, as Mendel expounds.

    But what area of life to choose? Should we sacrifice our own future to make a future worth living in? I would have to agree with Mendel in that though survival is important, it is not the most important thing we can achieve. Survival isn’t enough because it has no end. There is no purpose to it, and no reason for it. But art, and the characteristics it embodies such as creativity, spontaneity and meaning, provides so many additional nuances to the human experience, which is what makes it so important.

    In Station Eleven, Kirsten struggles with self-actualizing, and finding her meaning, purpose and potential in this post-apocalyptic society. What makes her attempt to do this is that unlike many other apocalyptic novels, that focus on the direct aftermath or the distant future, Station Eleven focuses on a society rebuilding, thus reflecting how Kirsten is trying to build herself. To do this, Kirsten almost obsessively reflects on her past, and the comic book that connects to it, as to her they symbolize the future she could have. A future built on the knowledge that nothing is forever, but that doesn’t make it meaningless.

  8. The question of life is so consuming and so broad, that it could/probably is discussed in several lengthy novels. However this question asks for MY interpretation of what makes life worth living. I must say I agree with Mandel, that it is other humans, and the ways in which we communicate with them that makes life worth living. Who would I be without my family? Certainly not Seth. I may look the same, but I would be a completely different person. Life, my life, is worth living because of the love I feel for my parents and siblings, and the bond I have with teammates and friends, both of these emotions feel nearly tangible. These emotions and human connections give me an anchor with which I can moor my being to reality, and a way to put everything into perspective. Sure, I love to run, sing, and watch movies, and admire art. In the end these things are only possible because of other people, and I like to do them so that I can have a social bond with others. Life is such a unfathomable idea that there cannot be a cut and dry explanation, a set of DYI instructions if you will, on how to live it. I am human, however, and thus feel the need to try and fathom life, and so I agree with Mandel that Human connections have the ability to create a fulfilling life.

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