The Stars Beneath Our Feet

Art is a central theme in the novel. Over the course of the novel, Lolly must learn how to cope with the death of his brother Jermaine while resisting pressure to follow in Jermaine’s footsteps and join a crew. Lolly feels most alive and excited when he is building his Lego castle, an artistic project that frees from the shackles of his grief. In the beginning of the novel, Lolly is so depressed that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be happy again. He has also only ever built Lego kits to match the models on the box. But when Steve gives him the book A Pattern of Architecture for Christmas, Lolly feels a spark of creativity that pushes aside his anger. He bursts with “crazy energy to want to rip apart all of [his] Legos and make them into something else. Something different” (26).

Lolly’s original Lego castle, House of Moneekrom, and its surrounding city of Harmonee make his grief feel more manageable. Crafting stories about the alien race who rule over the castle is the only thing keeping Lolly from sinking further into depression. The act of creating and using his imagination is helping him process emotions that otherwise are too painful to confront head on. Anything that interferes with this project threatens his emotional state: When his mom wants to tear down the House of Moneekrom because it is taking up too much space, “I didn’t know what I was going to do then. Really did not know. Like I was losing control” (58). Similarly, when Mr. Ali allows Rose to build her Lego city alongside Lolly, he initially feels as though his world is being invaded.  

Later in the novel, Lolly realizes that his and Rose’s Lego cities are works of art, which can come in many forms, no matter how unconventional. They have poured the pain of their loss into their work, which has become art that can “change people” (161). As Lolly sees the potential of art, he finds art everywhere. Vega’s violin playing now affects Lolly’s mood, especially when Vega plays sad songs. Lolly also responds to poetry, from the songs of rapper Tupac Shakur to the poem “On Imagination” by Phillis Wheatley, to the line from Richard Chenevix Trench’s poem “The Story of Justin Martyr” that Rose likes to repeat.

The power of art to change minds comes to a climax when Lolly defuses Mr. Tuttle anger over Yvonne stealing from his store by reciting lines from “On Imagination,” words that feel “like they were talking to [him]” (183). The scene shows the influence of artistic work and its potential to triumph in situations violence never could.