The Role Of Happiness In Mandel's Station Eleven

A life filled with purpose brings happiness. My definition of happiness is a life that has a drive to succeed and a drive to be happy. This drive or purpose can come from several aspects of one's life, such as careers, hobbies, and relationships. Mandel's Station Eleven portrays this well through the character of Jeevan Chuadhery. Within the first ten pages of the book, Jeevan encounters a life changing moment that reveals what he wants to do in his life. Jeevan also dwells on many memories of him and his brother of the pre-disaster world of the book. His career and family are the main sources of his happiness. Jeevan and I both have the same source of happiness, which comes from fulfilling our purpose in life and family.

A purposeful life

drives people to understand what they want to do in their life. In the book Station Eleven, Jeevan said "I want to do something that matters, if that's what you mean." (10) He states this when confronted by his former paparazzi coworkers, which he describes in the book as a job he didn’t want to do.

Jeevan finds his purpose in his career and it brings him great happiness through this experience. Mandel explains this experience through Jeevan's walk home where he says in his thoughts "there was nothing to be happy about. But there, he was exhilarated" (11). Jeevan soon realized he wants to be a paramedic. To my standard, I think everyone asks themselves the phrase Jeevan said. I for one have pondered the purpose of life many times, sometimes it takes a lifetime to understand. Jeevan questioned himself about his purpose for decades. He asked himself in the portion of the book when he is interviewing Arthur "What kind of life? Some people managed to do things that actually mattered." (p168). At this point he also compares himself to Frank and questioned the wrong choices he made. What kind of life I should live is a question that, as a first-year college student, I ask myself almost every week. The journey of trying to find my identity in the world is complex. Will it be through my career like Jeevan? "He'd

wondered all his life what his profession should be and now he was certain, absolutely certain that he wanted to be a paramedic." (p11) This moment defines Jeevan and how he lives the rest of his life after the flu and the tragedy of Arthur's death. Maybe I need a moment like Jeevan's in my life to shed some light. Knowing my purpose in life helps me greatly in how I can live it. This purposeful life brings me less stress and happiness through being able to focus on what I need to do. My father said several times in my childhood "Find your purpose in life and with that your happiness will come." I feel as if I have found my purpose for this time in my life, which is to provide for myself and my future family by earning my degree. I know what I am accomplishing will be good for my future and everyone around me. This is the same for Jeevan, he wants to focus on helping people and not be associated with the paparazzi anymore. Jeevan switches to what he wants to do with his life and becomes more meaningful with his career as a paramedic. When Jeevan found his purpose through his revelation in his career, it brought him great happiness. Though in the old world of the book, he never received the opportunity of what he wanted to be. In the New world after the Georgia flu, Jeevan gets his chance to fulfil his purpose. He finds a settlement, one that he can finally settle down after wandering for thousands of miles. He found that he wanted to be the one people turned to. This shows Jeevan is the one that takes initiative. It’s portrayed in the first section of the book, when he is the first one to rush on stage and try to save Arthur's life. He's also the optimistic one, when staying with his brother he said, "There's still a world out there" (p 183). I always state something like this when any of my friends need condolence. I often say "It's not the end of the world, you'll still be here and you have to do what makes you happy." Both Jeevan and I are optimistic about the world and we have to be content with what we have in this world. All of Jeevan’s qualities lead him to his purpose in the post-apocalyptic world. He found a job in McKinley, being a "doctor" and he found his family there which make him joyful in his life. He found a way to be the one people turned to in times of trouble. Being a doctor in that kind of world is a hard way to live and people looked up to Jeevan. Even during the incident when a man brought his shot wife to Jeevan, he remained calm. He stayed calm and treated her as if she was his own. Jeevan also kept the man calm during the whole process of sealing the wound and leaving the bullet in his wife. This scene shows that Jeevan became exactly what he wanted to be. A man who does meaningful work while working on his patients and has a family that he loves dearly. This all was built off the event of Arthur's death and the flu. Although they are two tragic events in Jeevan's life, he turned it around to find his purpose and happiness in the new world. Through both of these events he turns to family in these hardships.
Family brings great happiness in oneself and helps you in times of disaster. I hold family to a great importance and they bring me abundant happiness. I feel as if this is the same for Jeevan too. At the start of the book, Jeevan has a girlfriend, Laura. He also thinks highly of his brother, Frank. He stays with his brother during the flu epidemic and shares stories about their childhood. During his stay with Frank " Jeevan never felt so close to his brother." (p 179) In this situation of absolute horror in the world Jeevan is still close to his brother. It portrays how important family is to Jeevan in the new world of the apocalypse. This scenario holds true in my world too, I have seen how family effects people in their time of crisis. One of my friends was at the lowest point of his life, he drank to excess, abused drugs, and was eventually arrested. He turned his life around during this harsh time by falling back on family. This is similar to Jeevan, through the flu news of Hua, he stockpiles for survival and stays with his only family in the pre-flu section of the book. Laura, Jeevan’s girlfriend, leaves him at the theater while he tries to save Arthur on stage. At this point, Jeevan realizes that she is not the one he wants to be with, because they always fight, and she doesn’t make him happy. The ditch by Laura and how alone Jeevan felt at that time foreshadows his loneliness when Frank dies and he has to survive on his own. Yet, in both instances, he is alone, and Frank is still on his mind. These thoughts of his brother show how important Frank. It brings him happiness thinking about the days of their childhood treehouse. He reminisces throughout the book about when he and Frank were children, especially playing in the snow or the treehouse. While walking through the wasted landscape after the flu hit, Jeevan keeps his personal info in mind of who he was. He speaks about his parents’ names and that he was training to be a paramedic. Unfortunately, as he kept walking, the sayings were broken and lost in his thoughts with only one phrase "keep walking". It wasn’t until he settled in the new settlement that he filled his life with a new family. His new family brought back memories of his old one. I would do that same as Jeevan in that scenario, my brothers and my family would be the ones I want to be with during the apocalypse. My happiness derives from them and whether they're okay or not is a big deal to me. I would keep my family in my memories until the day I die.
The purpose of career and family in both of our live gives us a great happiness.

The exert from Lenior's Happiness a Philosopher's Guide talks about the meaning of life and our happiness:

"Usually, the quest for the meaning finds expression in a commitment to action, and in one's personal relationships. The building up of a professional career, for example, demands that we identify an activity that suits us and in which we can flourish, and that we settle on a goal and objectives to be achieved. The same can be true of our personal relationships: if we decide to have a family and raise children, we organize our lives in accordance with this decision, and our family life gives meaning to our existence." (Lenoir 30)

This suits Jeevan's pursuit of happiness. He wants a career where can draw meaning from it and he develops a family in the ruined world that gives him even more meaning to live. I for one can reflect on this quote and see my own definition of happiness. I am not too into a career that is greatly meaningful, but I want one to care for my future family. It's a decision that came to me years back and I choose to live by it and bring my happiness from

it.