Lavalle Reflection

 Joshua Singh

Dr. Ellis

EN 376

6 November

One of the first things I noticed about Victor Lavalle’s We Travel the Spaceways is Lavalle’s use of talking soda cans. At first, I was a bit off-put. Why are we in New York City and following the story of a homeless man who is talking to soda cans? These soda bottles and cans serve as his conscience until he learns that they have been mimicking the voices that have been guiding him in space the whole time. 

The short story follows Grimace as he and his friend Kim travel together in New York until Grimace sets fire to a Mosque one night and throws the bottles into the flames. He then becomes the city’s most-wanted person. Kim then takes him into space where the present narration merges with his past. In my understanding, Grimace was a man who went about his life in New York, but he was an odd one. He seemed more connected with humanity’s past and had stronger roots than those around him. For example, when kids were trying to set him on fire in the subway, they could not get the mechanical lighter to work, but Grimace knew how to use it instantly. 

Kim then took him to space after he became the city’s most-wanted person. Kim and the “Pathfinders,” who I believe are supposed to be the humans who have left Earth and colonized space, are proud of Grimace for burning the mosque. They then congratulate him for disrupting the “spiritual interference,” which I don’t think is grounds for burning an entire mosque. However, one of the key takeaways is Kim’s perception on the Pathfinders. Kim says, “They didn’t understand how long it’s been since they left…Gone ahead to prepare the Astral City, using as their models the great cities like Aksum, Lalibela, Djenne, Meroe” (Lavalle 37). It appears that Kim is trying to convey the message that the space colonizers or the Pathfinders have been so focused on creating other homes in space that they have forgotten where they have come from or the plights that still exist in New York such as homelessness and racism. 

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