I interpreted mathmom’s comment to refer to the prophet in Station Eleven? His version of NT Christianity was very warped!
No not talking about Islam at all. I’ve got no beef with any of the major religions and I think most of them have sects that have warped them to a point that I think misses the original intentions.
I’m talking about the Prophet in the book - Elizabeth and Arthur’s son. There’s sort of a passing reference to other similar prophets. His religion is based on the Christian bible isn’t it? (Returned my book to the library.) But even if Popes, and bishops, rabbis, swamis and other religious leaders died, I’d have thought more would remain of those beliefs in places like Jeevan’s community for example.
^ NJTM, I think mathmom is referring to the Prophet in Station Eleven. Only his warped religion seems to have survived in the post-collapse world of the novel.
(edit: cross-posted with PlantMom and mathmom!)
mathmom, I like to think that those other (kindler, gentler) religions did survive, but we are only exposed to the Prophet’s viewpoint because of his interaction with the principal characters.
Ditto!
@ignatius, your story gave me goosebumps. But then I’ve never been one to chalk things up to mere coincidence. This is the quote I thought of when I read the exchange between Charlie and Kirsten:
(It always comes back to Shakespeare, doesn’t it? 
)
Interesting question for me is why the Prophet had followers. (Like mathmom–I’m referring to the Prophet in the book, not anyone in real life.) His religious preachings IMO don’t seem comforting or hopeful. To me, he his words didn’t offer much of anything to anyone–except for the fact that there wasn’t anyone for people to latch onto and maybe he (the Prophet) represented hope to some just by the mere fact of his constant reading of the Bible. Maybe people saw more than what was really there.
I humbly apologize, mathmom!
^ TheaterMom, blame it on those shingles meds 
^Riiight, SJCM, thanks!
Today I cracked up my two sons by saying “bumper cables” instead of “jumper cables.”
Yes, I think the Prophet and his religion was the only discussed because that’s what happened to our band of characters. I think they make some kind of reference to another place where there was a new ‘religion’ (?). I’d think those kinds of things would be regional and would vary in their views (and possible odd or horrible practices). But crises like such a plague result often in strange beliefs-- witness the flagellants after the Black Plague. Also the persecution of certain groups to cast blame after such crises (the persecution of Jews also after the Plague). Catastrophe, fear and isolation breed things like that, and people who become followers.
Haven’t been chiming in since I have been traveling. I did like the book as an interesting view of how the world coudl develop after an apocalyptic event. On the issue of the prophet, though, he is convinced that he and therefore his followers have been choosen to be saved. After all, his mother told him so. They are the special chosen ones and therefore above the rules of mere mortals. That special kind of power can be intoxicating for both the prophet and the followers and I think it is just one of the societal mutations that could flourish after such an event. Kind of cautionary. Each glimpse of a different venue gives a new view of how society managed, each in isolation. Our traveing symphony lets us see or glimpse at them all.
@NJTheatreMOM, no problem! We all misread posts from time to time.
I’m always a bit surprised at how willing people are to follow just horrible people.
I agree. After all, think of the cults that find their niche in relatively healthy, non-apocalyptic times! Heaven’s Gate, for instance:
Applewhite makes the Prophet look almost sane by comparison.
I think Kirsten is a character who simultaneously regrets and refuses to regret, although I know that sounds like an impossibility. To me, this is part of what her wrist tattoos express. She regrets that she had to take a life in order to survive, but she does not regret that she is the one who lived while her adversary died.
Kirsten knows that August will struggle to achieve this balance:
Here’s King Lear regretting everything (I thought this was a cool woodcut by Andrei Dmitrievich Goncharov): http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h–/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/15/1410801742098/King-Lear-1950.-Artist-Go-004.jpg
Jeevan was someone who lived without regret. He was happy with his life, which was filled with love, family, and satisfying work.
^^^ Almost crossposted with Caraid:
Jeevan seems content with his life (respected medic, husband, father, friend) - more so than when we meet him. He misses his brother and the first year when he walks can’t have been easy. Still, he ends in a good place. He seems less connected to the past than Clark. He also has limited family ties when the flu strikes - only his brother - so less worry. Frank and Jeevan make peace with their situation while in the apartment. Frank makes it so Jeevan only has to manage his own survival in the beginning. Jeevan doesn’t have to wonder what happened to his loved ones - if they still live somewhere other.
I want to add that for me the worry about loved ones would be hardest. Clark’s lover may have died but maybe not. Clark has no way of knowing. For those with families scattered across the country, the lack of closure - did some survive and where are they - would always haunt.
I’m not sure Elizabeth had regrets. Although we didn’t get to know this character well, her acceptance that everything, including the flu, happens for a reason didn’t give me the feeling she had regrets . In my opinion, she had much to regret–the loss of her comfortable life, her affair and the destruction of Arthur’s first marriage to Miranda, her son’s oddball life and behavior–and she showed fear I think in running away to Israel or hiding in the first class lounge of the airport, but I didn’t sense regret; rather only a sense of resignedness or acquiescence to the fate assigned her.
You know at first Elizabeth refuses to believe that the Georgia Flu decimates life as she knows it. In fact she insists it hasn’t. She keeps the runway clear: “They’re going to come for us. You know that, right?” I doubt she was ever particularly stable and you can sense her losing her grasp as the days pass. When she and Tyler leave with an unsettling sort of religious group in Year Two, others feel relief:
So I can’t say whether or not Elizabeth has regrets. I don’t want to discount her feelings but I don’t think she has enough grasp on reality to ascribe the feeling of regret or lack of to Elizabeth. Maybe a warped form of acceptance comes closest. Certainly regret does not play a part in what she teaches Tyler. After all, they are the chosen ones.
I pretty much discount Elizabeth’s lack of regrets for the reasons others have stated.
I think it’s pretty unusual not to have any regrets, or at least to wonder about some of the roads not taken. I’m glad Miranda had no regrets despite having had a lot of pain in her life.
I’m more or less with PlantMom. Maybe Elizabeth initially had some regrets, but she quickly suppressed them in the religious “everything happens for a reason” mindset.