"We Travel the Spaceways"

Grace Perry

Dr. June Ellis

EN376*01

6th November 2023 

"We Travel the Spaceways"

    What I found most interesting about this short story was the way it called upon the elements of ancestral knowledge in a similar way to Na Viro. For me, I found the Pathfinders to be an almost bodily reiteration of wayfinding. The Pathfinders speak externally to those who will listen, yet everyone has some level of internalized connection to them. I found this reminiscent of the way wayfinding was discussed in Na Viro, where it was framed as an element within all of us, yet there were varying degrees to which we could utilize it. I thought this story then drew an interesting parallel. Those on Earth in Na Viro were more attuned to this inherited knowledge, compared to those who had devoted themselves to space, while, comparatively, the people on Earth in "We Travel the Spaceways" are the one's ignorant to this higher acknowledgement of being and those connected to space more directly and intimately are able to access it more successfully. I also felt there was a parallel to the ways each story emphasized the intimacy and immediacy one needed in order to be better attuned to this source of knowing. For Tia, wayfinding was something she had to draw her own focus on and center her physically body within. Similarly, Grimace's mission is to diminish the volume of the "other" gods in order to help people hear the voices of their original and true gods. Each of them seek to push away the barriers that keep them from truly connecting (and this could apply to Zelie, as well, whose fight revolved around removing social constraints to reconnect with her magic) and to bring some level of awareness to others around them. 

    I also found it interesting that this story was framed within a more contemporary time period, like the McCoy Game, because it gave the reader a more accessible world that could easily be understood as their own. I have enjoyed the examples we have looked at that utilize this method, especially with the short stories, as it often serves as a reminder that these futuristic explorations and adaptations are available and not fully removed from our own reality. It also further emphasizes that we will only remain stuck within the present until we take the initiative to look back to move forward. 

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