Museum of Miranda

 Reader’s Journal: 

“The girl who needed Effexor was very sick by then. Withdrawal, she said. No one in the airport had the drug she needed” (Mandel 242).  

This quote sticks out to me because I relate to her. I currently take medication that would result in withdrawal if I did not have it, and if the world ended as it did in this book, then I would be going out the same way she did; Either that or I would die from an asthma attack. So I feel sorry for Lily Patterson because I see myself and what I would go through if I were her.  

“‘I was in the hotel,’ he said finally. ‘I followed your footprints in the snow.’ There were tears on his face. ‘Okay,’ someone said, ‘but why are you crying?’ ‘I’d thought I was the only one,’ he said” (Mandel 257). 

This quote invokes a sort of fear I have of being actually alone. Imagining if everyone I knew had died and I was walking around surviving alone makes me feel like that would be the worst. Surviving with others sounds hard enough, but having to survive on your own without any sight of other people sounds absolutely awful. If I were not likely to die from medication withdrawal or lack of an inhaler, I would die from a broken heart.  

Discussion Questions to go with the journal: 

It was sweet how Clark started the Museum of Civilization in the airport because he thought that if Robert were there, that is what Robert would have done. Clark had tried to stop Elizabeth and Tyler from falling into delusions, but they refused his help and left. Clark becoming a sweet old man with his museum was a perfect ending for him. Jeevan goes from struggling to having his little boy and wife. The endings for these two are very peaceful and lovely to read. After the chaos of the end of the world came peaceful times in the world. Elizabeth and Tyler survive mentally by believing in their delusions, which bring comfort to them, which is why Tyler becomes the Prophet. The people in the airport relied on each other physically and worked together to make the best of what they had.  

The Museum of Civilization is important to the airport residents because it brings nostalgia to the ones who experienced it. Also, it helps teach the kids about the past. Knowledge is limited, so anything like newspapers has sentimental value, and knowledge is valuable. It is not valuable in the same way food is valuable, however. If I were building my own Museum of Civilization, I would include every little trinket in my bedroom, posters, and paintings. I would want pictures of my loved ones and paw prints of my dogs. It would be more of the Museum of Miranda than anything else.  

This decision was not wise because one of the Prophet’s strengths was that they could pluck them off individually. If they had stayed in a big group, perhaps they would not have lost any kids. People I love and care about are always worth fighting for, and I am sure it is no different in the apocalypse. Anything that would mean saving or greatly helping my loved ones would be worth endangering my life for. I draw my line at hurting people for no reason or a flimsy reason. If many people have to suffer for one person, I do not think I would go through with it. I am unsure whether I would personally fight for my school, city, or country. 

On the road to the airport, Kirsten and August encounter Sayid, two men, and one boy. August kills the gunman, and Kirsten kills the archer. The boy with the machete had run away. While talking to Sayid, August, and Kirsten find out Dieter died. Sayid, August, and Kirsten hid ten steps away from the Prophet and his men in the bushes. The man with the crossbow sees Kirsten and demands that she stands up with her hands in the air. Kirsten rose out of hiding and did as the man said. When he asks about Sayid and August, Kirsten lies to the Prophet, and she tells him they died. Then Kirsten started reading a face-off between Dr. Eleven and the Undersea in response to the Prophet mentioning the undersea. Unexpectedly, the boy shoots the Prophet, and August shoots an arrow into the man with the crossbow’s neck. The man with the shotgun shot bullets aimlessly until he ran out, and August shot an arrow into his forehead. The boy, who had the machete before, kills himself with the gun he had used on the Prophet. Kirsten finds hope through Station Eleven, and I think Tyler did for a bit too. Kirsten finds hope through her friendships with August and others. She was no longer afraid.