Mile Zero by Thomas Sanchez
"Mile Zero" by Thomas Sanchez is a literary exploration of Key West, Florida, perceived as a symbolic endpoint of the American journey and a place of refuge for those fleeing hardship. The narrative intricately weaves the island's historical transformation from a center of the cigar industry to a hub of drug trade, reflecting on how these changes have impacted the American Dream. The story centers around St. Cloud, a former antiwar activist grappling with self-doubt and existential questions, who forms a connection with MK, a Vietnam veteran turned smuggler. The characters navigate a landscape marked by the aftermath of Vietnam, societal rejection, and the plight of Haitian refugees, highlighted through the tragic tale of a young boy named Voltaire. Sanchez intertwines themes of violence, redemption, and societal critique within the backdrop of Key West's vibrant yet tumultuous environment. The narrative culminates in an ambiguous ending, leaving readers to ponder the potential for renewal amidst destruction. Through its rich characterization and poignant reflections, "Mile Zero" invites contemplation on the intersections of history, identity, and cultural change in America.
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Subject Terms
Mile Zero by Thomas Sanchez
First published: 1989
The Work
Mile Zero, Thomas Sanchez’s sweeping vision of Key West, Florida, brilliantly evokes the rich history and lyrical passion of the island. Key West is the southernmost point of the continental United States, where “Mile Zero,” the last highway sign before the Atlantic Ocean, symbolizes the end of the American road. While Key West represents the end for the downtrodden Americans who gravitate there, the island promises hope for refugees fleeing Haiti’s poverty across shark-ridden waters. Sanchez traces the island’s shifting economy from a hub of the cigar industry to “a marijuana republic,” then to “a mere cocaine principality.” Sanchez laments how the drug trade has corrupted the American Dream.
Mile Zero’s main character, St. Cloud, a former antiwar activist, drowns his self-doubt in Haitian rum and ponders his inability to sacrifice himself for his beliefs. He feels a strange kinship with MK, once a soldier in Vietnam and now a dangerous smuggler who has fled Key West for South America. MK’s mysterious presence and the shadow of Vietnam permeate the book. St. Cloud imagines that his pacificism and MK’s violence are two sides of the same coin. After Vietnam, returning soldiers and protesters both found themselves cast out of society.
When a Coast Guard cutter tows a refugee boat from Haiti into the harbor, Justo Tamarindo, a Cuban American police officer, drafts St. Cloud to help him prevent the deportation of the sole survivor, a boy named Voltaire. Voltaire’s sad story reveals how America thrives at the expense of the Third World. Late in the novel, Voltaire escapes from the detention center where he is waiting to be deported. The young, malnourished boy dreams he has reached a heavenly land of plenty at a garish shopping mall before he dies a tragic death.
Meanwhile, Justo pursues Zobop, an enigmatic killer, who is roaming the island and leaving voodoo-inspired clues everywhere. After Zobop is killed, Justo learns that the murderer sought purification by destruction. Like El Finito, a powerful, apocalyptic hurricane that threatens to destroy the island, Zobop believes everything must be wiped out before it can be renewed.
In Mile Zero, Sanchez signals the necessity of cultural change. Vietnam is over, Justo thinks, but the bodies of the dead refugees augur the arrival of a new devil. America is doomed if it does not change. The novel’s ambiguous ending, in which Justo, who may have contracted AIDS, pulls St. Cloud out of the ocean, brings its readers to mile zero, a place that can be either an ending or a beginning.
Bibliography
Abeel, Erica. “A Winning Sort of Loser.” The New York Times Book Review, October 1, 1989, 7.
Bonetti, Kay. “An Interview with Thomas Sanchez.” Missouri Review 14, no. 2 (1991): 76-95.
Rieff, David. “The Affirmative Action Novel.” The New Republic, April, 1990, 31-34.