Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015
Legacy, the Decision of Life

What makes legacy really important to ones life? Is it because it determines

the way people remember ones life? In some ways, it is true, but not necessarily
true. It is actually more to peoples personal importance. To extend, legacy is more
about to be true to themselves, to justify the real purposes of their life, and to finally
make things right. In the end people seek to create their legacy not because of status
but in order to reconcile with themselves. In Emily St. John Mandels Station Eleven,
the theme legacy is defined by a few key decisions that Jeevan, Arthur, and Kirsten
make in their lifetime.
First, in Jeevans life, he struggles a lot in associating his job to his purpose of
life, but in the end he makes a decision that finally reminds him to his true self,
which creates his own legacy that matters not only to him but others too. In Jeevans
early life, he has worked as a photographer, a paparazzi, and an entertainment
journalist. But these jobs do not give him the answer to his purpose of life. He do it
because it pays his bills not his satisfaction of the fulfillment of his purpose of life. In
his interview with Arthur, Arthur wonders, Ive always wondered what drives you
people. (Mandel, 169) Jeevan answers, Money, generally speaking. (Mandel, 169)
The reason he has done all these jobs in his life is because he is trying to survive in
this world. It does not define the real him, but at least it helps his economy. He
confess, what kind of journalism career was this? What kind of life? Some people
managed to do things that actually mattered. (Mandel, 168) He realizes that his life
at this state, looking what he does for a living, does not have the importance to the

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015

society. In the end, he decides to become a paramedic. A job that he values the most
throughout his life. I want to do something that matters (Mandel, 10) He takes a
chance and does what he believes, it is to do something that matters to the society. He
hesitates at first, but finally sure about his decision after a CPR he does for Arthur
Leander in Elgin Theatre. Arthur died, theres nothing to be happy about. But
there [is], he [is] exhilarated, because he[s] wondered all his life what his profession
should be, and now he [is] certain, absolutely certain that he [wants] to be a
paramedic, he [wants] to be one step forward. (Mandel, 11) The contrast of
sadness and happiness explains that he truly does want to become a paramedic, to
help people. He does not want to end his life as Jeevan who takes a lot of photos of
celebrities or Jeevan who interviews all the Hollywood stars, but he wants his life
means something, not just to him but to other people. He is being true to himself, he
makes his own legacy. His legacy of the satisfaction of helping others. It does not
matter whether people notice his legacy or not, but at least he knows that if people
remember his legacy, people remember him as what he wants to be remembered and
he knows that his legacy represents his purpose of life.
Next, through Kirsten decisions when she has to kill someone, to overcome
all the deaths and to risk her life, she shows that death means something to her, it is
not only a final event of ones lifetime. She values all the deaths that she causes and
faces. Death is a legacy to her. Her tattoos, two black knives on the back of her right
wrist, those mean something. Something important that she does not want public to
know. In the end of her interview with Diallo, unrecorded, she reveals what her
tattoos represent. I think of killingHave you ever had to do it?...How many?...She

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015

turned her wrist to show the knife tattoos. Two. (Mandel, 265) Those two black
knives represent two human being that she kills. In the beginning of the interview,
she refuses to answer questions that have personal meanings to her, questions that
she does not want public to know the answer, and one of it is about her knives
tattoos. The reason is she does not want the media and public use her words to twist
facts about her. She does not want people see her as Kirsten the killer, even though it
is an act of self-defense, but who knows if the media will omit the self-defense part
and leave the killing part. She says, I understand something about permanent
records. And it isnt something you want to be remembered for. Exactly. (Mandel,
268) Once the media uses her information irresponsibly and makes false assumptions
about her, it stays forever. Externally, her legacy that she wants people to remember
about herself are Kirsten the survivor and Kirsten the artist. Making an innocent
image about herself. Although it seems like a selfish decision, seems like she only
cares about her status, but she just wants to be aware of those little things so that she
will not make mistakes as Arthur does. However, she values all the deaths, keeps
track on every death she causes through her tattoos. It tells her story and it reminds
her. The tattoos stay forever, so thus her memory of the deaths cause by her. Those
tattoos are her legacy, her personal legacy. In addition, her act to step forward when
she, Sayid, and August are exposed by the prophet also explains her legacy. I know
it was me or all three of us, (Mandel, 301) she mentions. She sacrifices her life to
save her loved one. At least if she dies, her legacy will mean something important,
something that saves two souls. If she dies, she know she dies for people she loves,
thus it is not an end in smoke death.

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015
Finally, Arthur in his life makes a lot of decisions that he regrets, but in the

end he makes decisions that reconcile so that his present can mean something
valuable to people around him, or at least to himself. Regret, sorrow, and rue. Those
are all things that he is thinking near the end of his life. All the ex-wives and all the
heartbreaks he has made buzz all around his head. Fame, money, power, and pride
that he prioritizes in his younger age end with regrets. Fame, money, power and pride
may be the legacy that the media and public accept from him, but it is not the legacy
that he wants. In the end, all those worldly objects do not make him happy. In the end
he decides to leave it all and start over. Hed definitely decided: when Lear closed,
he was moving to Israel. The idea was exhilarating. He would shed his obligations
and belongings and start over in the same country as his son. (Mandel, 317) In his
case, besides all the sorrow he has, he still has his son, his source of happiness. He
sacrifices all his possession and status to find his true happiness. He [will] be known
as the man who [gives] his fortune away. (Mandel, 322) But he does not care
because all that matter is his true happiness. His legacy may be seen as a pitiful
decision by public but meaningful in some ways. In addition, he does not exactly
neglect all his money. He uses it to do something nice. Something that may not be a
big problem for him to help, but really helpful for people who receive it. He calls
Tanya, How much do you still awe in student loans?...I want to pay it off. (Mandel,
322) He plans to pay Tanyas student loans. In the end, he uses his money for a good
cause. His decisions to help and to leave giving him an unexpected peace. When he
ended the call, he felt an unexpected peace. He would jettison everything that could
possibly be thrown overboard, this weight of money and possessions, and in this

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015

casting off hed be a lighter man. (Mandel, 323) All the pressures, expectations and
demands from the media and public are gone. All left behind. His decision to leave
and to help justify what he cares the most in his life are not money and possessions,
but love, father-and-son-love. He does not care what his legacy means to the media
and public, but what he cares is his legacy is his love. His legacy means something
important to his life, to his sons life and to some peoples life.
In conclusion, it is peoples decision to create their own legacy, to manage
how people want the world see them, but the most important to be true to themselves.
Jeevan decides to become a paramedic, to do something that matters to the society, to
do what he really cares. Kirsten decides to limit information about her that she wants
to share to the media, to keep an innocent image of her in public, but also risk her life
for the people she cares and loves the most. Arthur decides to leave it all, to stay
close with his son, to find his peace and happiness in life. All of their decisions may
be seen by the world as something risky, stupid, or unthoughtful, but the fact that all
their decisions are based on what they care and how they want to see themselves as a
human being, they manage to create their own legacy that specifically means
something true to themselves and their life. Sometimes people see legacy as
something that people really care about since it has a strong connection to what
people will be remembered by the society. But from Station Eleven, legacy is not all
about appearances to the public, it is also about how people want to be seen by their
own perspective, how they value themselves and how their decision may change the
way they remember themselves. In the end, presently, looking at this society, legacy
is about pride and status in life. But deeper, those are not the real legacy that people

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015

want to achieve. The real legacy comes from peoples decisions, to be true to
themselves and to recognize their own being.

Nicholas Sia

Mr. Small
ENG4U
10th June 2015
Work Cited
Mandel, Emily St. John. Station Eleven. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2014. Print.