Agilus' mask

Apropos of nothing, how come the ribbon still showed after Agilus took off his mask? -r. strange thoughts that occur on the bus to work

I always assumed it's because he had another mask on underneath. bee

Reply: Item #1388846 from URTH at LISTS.BEST.COM@INET# bee and r., The line in question: "The ribbons that held your mask," I said. "They're still there." We are taking this as literal. But it can also be Severian's laconic way of saying, "Look, you are still play-acting as though I were not the simple torturer that I am." (Agilus is acting, but he doesn't really grasp that Severian is a genuine torturer--Agilus assumes Severian to be an armiger or armiger-wannabe in costume for a party.) And it can be metaphorical, saying that Agilus's real face is as much another mask as Doctor Talos's face is that of a stuffed fox. But it cannot be literally true that Agilus is wearing a second mask--since the face Severian sees looks like Agia and the face he will later see when Agilus is a prisoner in the cell. Or if Agilus is wearing a second mask, it is unusual in that it looks exactly like his face, which leads back into the laconic and metaphorical readings. =mantis=