Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v011.n039

From: Alice Turner <pei047 at attglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 18:52:57 +0000

Said Dr. Gevers:

> I commented a while back on the likelihood that Horn
> et al visit Urth in IGJ on the day of Severian's
> swimming expedition at the start of THE SHADOW OF THE
> TORTURER. Quite a few people have concurred. Some
> mention has also been made of parallels between
> Silk/Horn and Severian: the wielding of a numinous
> black sword, the Claw-style light given to Horn by the
> Neighbour on Green, the lochage concluding that Horn
> is a Master of the Torturers' Guild. What I infer from
> all this is that the career of Silk/Horn is the
> template for Severian's career: the Hierodules and
> others shape Severian's life to resemble Silk/Horn's,
> because the latter's progressively benevolent pattern
> will make Severian a likely bringer of the New Sun.
> Silk/Horn is Severian's precursor: his arrival on
> Urth, just as the action of THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN
> commences, is the inspiration the higher powers need
> for their successful manipulation of Severian's
> timeline.

I'm not sure about the swimming expedition, though it's perfectly
possible and nicely tidy. Nor does Sev's life seem to me to resemble
Silk/Horn's in any real way (other than within the necessary confines of
an adventure fantasy). But I am sure that Silk/Horn's visit to Urth will
be remembered as a visit from the Conciliator exactly because of the
parallel clues you cite. Legend will thus conflate them (unbeknownst to
Sev, of course, at least so far as we know). It remains to be seen
whether any further conflation will occur--it seems to me that it would
be damn difficult to do in the course of a single book to come. But I
love surprises.

-alga

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