Aye, and Gomorrah...

“And went up."

("Aye, and Gomorrah..." p. 133)

I appreciated the symmetry in the way this story ended (see above) and began: “And came down in Paris.” Just like in “Lathe of Heaven,” the reader is dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar world, and lands in Paris with the spacers, confused and disoriented. As events unfold, things become more clear, but the reader is never quite sure of where they are, because in the next moment… “And went up.” And once again you’ve landed somewhere new and have to reorient yourself again. This, I thought, was an extremely effective way of getting the reader into the mindset of the characters in the book. They are not tied down to one place, and don’t fit in anywhere on earth, and so continue in a nomadic sort of existence, not sure where they will land again. I got the impression that they don’t actually have much control over where they land—they don’t plan where they’re going at any rate. They don’t seem to care much where they’re going, as long as it’s away from where they are. This ability to just up and leave, however, further isolates the spacers from society. It sets them apart, but also on a pedestal. “You have your glorious, soaring life…” a frelk tells the narrator “…You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land while we… We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshipping you!” (130.) But whether they’re idolized or reviled, the spacers are separate. Any human connection they might make disappears when the go up, because no one can follow them. Any friendships, arguments, realizations—any of the things that make us human—get left behind. And they go up.

A major factor in this isolation and constant relocation is the fact that the spacers are no longer seen as male of female, since their reproductive organs have been removed. And because they don’t fit into the gender binary on earth, the only people they feel they can connect to are each other. This may be a work of science fiction, but the gender issues it brings up are anything but fiction. How different is the situation of the spacers from that of many transgender or gender queer people in the world today? By many, they are seen as freaks, and the people who love them are also given that label. They don’t fit in to the male/female dichotomy, and so are looked down upon, seen as less than human even. They have their community, but do not ever feel accepted in the larger world. This is not a perfect metaphor, but it does raise interesting questions about the way we see those outside of gender norms in our society today, and how dependent we are on our gender to assign us a role, a community. But if no community accepts you as you are, what is there left to do, but to go up?