Sloosha’s Crossin’ An’ Ev’rythin’ After
Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After is a full, undisrupted section, of a post apocalyptic world written in an abridged and slang-filled english. There are many allusions to the other sections that can be observed. The most evident of these being the presence of Sonmi. In this story she is the deity of the Valleysmen and is thought to live among them and pass their souls into the next life.
These events take place a hundred years after the fall of the civilization of Sonmis time. Technology used in the previous section, specifically the orison, is used here. It is revealed that most of the earth is uninhabitable, first seen in the deadlands beyond Sonmi's city and people who came into contact with those lands contracted the red-scab disease. Buenas Yerb's is a place said to have been wiped out during the fall. A tribe known as the Swannekke are also present in Zachry's world. Both of these facts reference Luisa Reys story. The majority of this section takes place in Hawaii, a place both visited and talked about in other sections. Once again a character has a comet shaped birthmark, but for the first time it is not present on the narrator, but a supporting character, Meronym. Sloosha’s Crossin’ contains the same themes as the rest of the book.
The theme of Strong vs Weak is explored through the Kona Men and the Valleysmen. The Kona are a strong bloodthirsty warrior tribe. They demonstrate predation by killing, raping, and enslaving the villagers of Big I. Zachry himself was enslaved, a form of imprisonment, much like Autua from The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. Ascent and Descent is once again identified. Meronym and Zachry climbed to the summit of Mauna Kea, where Meronym almost fell, and in the beginning of the story Old Georgie tripped Zachry. Also at the end of the story, the Kona men fell to their deaths off of the bridge.
Noteworthy Connections
These events take place a hundred years after the fall of the civilization of Sonmis time. Technology used in the previous section, specifically the orison, is used here. It is revealed that most of the earth is uninhabitable, first seen in the deadlands beyond Sonmi's city and people who came into contact with those lands contracted the red-scab disease. Buenas Yerb's is a place said to have been wiped out during the fall. A tribe known as the Swannekke are also present in Zachry's world. Both of these facts reference Luisa Reys story. The majority of this section takes place in Hawaii, a place both visited and talked about in other sections. Once again a character has a comet shaped birthmark, but for the first time it is not present on the narrator, but a supporting character, Meronym. Sloosha’s Crossin’ contains the same themes as the rest of the book.
The theme of Strong vs Weak is explored through the Kona Men and the Valleysmen. The Kona are a strong bloodthirsty warrior tribe. They demonstrate predation by killing, raping, and enslaving the villagers of Big I. Zachry himself was enslaved, a form of imprisonment, much like Autua from The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. Ascent and Descent is once again identified. Meronym and Zachry climbed to the summit of Mauna Kea, where Meronym almost fell, and in the beginning of the story Old Georgie tripped Zachry. Also at the end of the story, the Kona men fell to their deaths off of the bridge.
Noteworthy Connections
- The story takes place on the Big Island of Hawaii, which is a central location throughout the novel.
- The “painted savages” called the Kona remind us of the feared Maori and the peaceful Ninefold Valleysmen remind us of the Moriori in Ewing’s journal.
- “Crack! Went a whip, an’ Pa’n’Adam was topsied an’ lay wrigglyin’ like eels on the sand.” (241) is similar to that of Autua’s flogging.
- “Zachry the Brave Niner he snaky-snuck up a leafy hideynick to snivel’n’pray to Sonmi...” (241) Here we see that Sonmi is some sort of Valleysmen god or diety.
- “Dear Sonmi, Who art amongst is, return this beloved soul to a valley womb, we beseech thee.” (241) Sonmi in Zachry’s time is associated with returning souls to a “valley womb” which can be connected to the fabricant wombtanks of her own time.
- There are dingos in the Kohala Mountains which builds a connection between Hawaii and Australia, which is close to Chatham Isle. (242)
- The Kona slaved the Mookini (243) just as the Maori did to the Moriori.
- Zachry knew his babbit would “always be reborned as Valleysmen,” (244) which supports the overarching theme of reincarnation.
- The fourteen notches required to receive a “spesh dreamin’” (245) remind us of the twelve-stars fabricants need to reach Xultation.
- Herman Melville is once again alluded to in the name of the Valleysman, “Melvil o’ Black Ox.” (253)
- “Smart’n’Civ’lize ain’t got nothin’ to do with the color o’ the skin, nay,” (258) shows how the times have changed from earlier stories.
- “Why’s a Prescient’s life worth more’n Valleysman’s?" (267) echoes Sonmi’s plight against purebloods.
- “Places where ev’ryun’s a beautsome purebirth who lives to be one hun’erd’n’fifty years,” (271) provides an obvious reference to the dewdrugged purebloods of Nea So.
- Buenas Yerbas, a location in Luisa Rey’s story, is alluded to. (271)
- “...states busted into bar’bric tribes an’ the Civ’lize Days ended, ‘cept for a few folds’n’pockets here’n’there, where the last embers glimmer.” (273) We find out what has happened to the world between Sonmi’s time and Zachry’s.
- Both Sonmi and Zachry are referred to as judased and Judas, respectively. (275, 277)
- “Twisted boulders chorused me, Judas! an’ Pack mule! an’ Ship slave!” (278) Autua comes to mind with the words “ship slave.”
- “I spat at him, but my spit boom’ranged back on me,” (281) makes a connection with Australia as well as references the novel’s structure.
- Zachry climbs Mauna Kea just as Adam climbed Conical Tor.
- “I glimpsed all the lifes my soul ever was till far-far back b’fore the Fall,” (287) once again revisits the theme of reincarnation.
- The Kona enslaved Zachry just as the Maori enslaved Autua. (290)
- The word “pureblood” is used on page 291.
- There is a “tribe called the Swannekke what lived way past Ank’ridge,” (296) which is an obvious link to Swannekke Island in Luisa’s story.
- “Souls cross the skies o’time Abbess’d say, like clouds crossin’ skies o’ the world,” (302) connects the themes of character reincarnation and the motif of clouds.
- “Lady Moon lit a whoahsome wyrd birthmark jus’ b’low my friend’s shoulder blade,” with, “... a head o’ six streaks strandin’ off.” (303) Here it is revealed that Meronym has a comet birthmark too. The six streaks uphold the motif of six and could refer to certain characters of the six different stories.
- “Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an’ tho’ a cloud’s shape nor hue nor size don’t stay the same, it’s still a cloud an’ so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud’s blowed from or who the soul’ll be ‘morrow? Only Sonmi the east an’ the west an’ the compass an’ the atlas yay, only the atlas o’ clouds.” (308) This one quote says so much about the book. It reinforces the idea of character reincarnation, upholds the motif of clouds, and references the name of the novel.