Subject: (urth) Re: Silk's appetite

From: David Duffy <davidd at qimr.edu.au>
Date: Sun, 07 Jul 2002 06:10:36 +0000

I seem to recall someone earlier pointing out that Silk was always very
abstemious, as befits an augur.

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From: Steve Strickland <sstrickland at satx.rr.com>
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 14:40:33 +0000

This explanation has never really satisfied me.  The question of why Silk
doesn't eat much is probably the one that puzzles me the most.

Certainly, it is intended to suggest that Silk may be an inhumi, though
there are also suggestions that he is not.  One of these days I'm going to
have time to re-read ShortSun and get to the bottom of it, though it's
discouraging to hear of people who've read it twice and still don't know the
answer.

I can't help but wonder:  maybe the clues that Silk is an inhumi are all too
clear and readers such as we simply refuse to accept them out of preference.

Another possibility that I wish I had time to explore:  maybe Silk's lack of
an appetite is a clue as to the true nature of Silk's "power".   We know
that Silk is profoundly good, at least in certain respects.  Part of that
goodness is reflected in kindness to the inhumi and it seems to be a
kindness of such an absolute quality that it serves as protection against
the inhumi, which seems to be related to their secret, which Silk exposes.
It seems to me that just as the inhumi take on the nature of the humans upon
whom they feed, perhaps Silk takes on some of the aspects of the inhumi, who
he has mastered.  I know that's just an idea in its inception, and it's been
awhile since I've read Short Sun, but it's an idea I toyed with at the time
of reading and I can't help but think there's something there.

On another subject:  I think it's wrong to view Horn as gone, just because
Silk is alive.  Horn's memories, at least, remain in Silk, where they were
transported across worlds while Horn lay dying on Green.

Steve Strickland

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Duffy" <davidD at qimr.edu.au>
To: <urth at urth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 1:10 AM
Subject: (urth) Re: Silk's appetite

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From: Spectacled Bear <spectacled.bear at pobox.com>
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 16:25:05 +0000

>doesn't eat much is probably the one that puzzles me the most.

As an augur he was extremely poor, and had very little food to live on.
Look at what a treat the tomatoes are in Long Sun, for instance.

Spectacled Bear.

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From: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 19:10:46 +0000

>abstemious, as befits an augur.

Silk was a kid fresh out of the seminary. He was a novice as an augur,
hadn't had time to inculcate the poor-as-a-church-mouse stereotypical
appetite of same. His eating habits must date from childhood, about which we
are told very little.

Silk's abstemiousness is, to some degree, an affectation. When his mind is
otherwise engaged he can--and does--eat normally, as at Inclito's house.
(IGJ, 71)

-Roy

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From: matthew.malthouse <matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 10:46:26 +0000

>abstemious, as befits an augur.

Befitting or not his Mantieon seems always to be on short commons so
likely it was a long engrained habit.

Matthew

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From: Ashley Crill <ashley.crill at student.oc.edu>
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 20:51:39 +0000

>otherwise engaged he can--and does--eat normally, as at Inclito's house.

     In my opinion, this emphasis on Silk/Horn's appetite in IGJ is simply a clue to the reader that Horn is now inhabiting Silk's body. As Roy notes, Silk does not usually eat much. Now that Horn is in Silk's body, he eats only as much as Silk would normally eat. Before reading RTtW, I didn't realize that Horn was inhabiting Silk's body in IGJ. His appetite is simply a clue to the change that has taken place.