Subject: (whorl) Death of Jahlee

From: James Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 13:02:51 +0000

At 10:24 PM 2/11/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>The protagonist spends a lot of time treating inhumi as people and trying 
>to see their point of view, even to the point of wanting to learn about 
>their reproductive habits.  He must be the most sympathetic human the 
>inhumi have encountered.  Then Jahlee tries to kill Nettle, and Juganu 
>leads a war party against the protagonist, who doesn't hesitate to kill 
>them in either case (although he seems to have some regret about Jahlee).
>
>I can't figure out whether these incidents represent the inhumi not being 
>able to rise above their nature, or whether they are a consequence of 
>their close imitation of humans.  Perhaps they imitate humans in war as in 
>love?

         Jahlee is in love with Horn. Nettle is her rival. She realizes 
this when face to face with Nettle at last. Horn defends his wife, and 
"goes too far." But that's reality.
         I believe that among the broad subtexts of the series is that Silk 
is like Jesus and Horn is a bit like Paul. Humans are the Jews, and the 
inhumi are the barbarians to whom Paul was sent. Yep, they are barbarians, 
but the good news of human blood can make them into something else. The 
blood of Christ transforms us. The body and blood of Silk are transforming 
Horn. Human blood is transforming the inhumi. But you don't stop being a 
barbarian overnight, especially when the "Jews" are really no better than 
the "barbarians," a point that both Paul and Horn continually make. Both 
must grow in "Silk-likeness." But it is "to the Jew first, and also to the 
Greek" (Romans, chapter 1). Humans must be transformed so that the inhumi 
can be.
         So, let's not be surprised if Jahlee's "sanctification" is 
imperfect. Wolfe's characters are on the road to being better people, but 
they are never perfect!
         But isn't there some awesome beauty in Jahlee's death? Dying in 
Nettle's forgiving arms? Wanting to be human so much that she hates her 
people and reveals the secret? Isn't this a good death, with penitence, 
forgiveness, and hope for a happy afterlife?
         Read this section again, Alga. I thought it was both sad and 
beautiful. It made me care for Jahlee more than ever. I think this 
bittersweet end makes Jahlee more human, and more loveable, than if she had 
just turned into a good person and lived happily ever after.

Patera Nutria

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From: Jeffrey Meyers <jeffmeyers at earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 22:02:17 +0000

James Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net> wrote:

> inhumi are the barbarians to whom Paul was sent.
. . .
> imperfect. Wolfe's characters are on the road to being better people, but

I guess I don't see how the inhumi as a whole are "on the road to being
better people."  If the inhumi are Gentiles, why are so few of them
(possibly Krait and Jahle alone; would you also say Fava?) "converted."  If
the NT typology is to make some sense, I guess I would expect more
"conversions" among the "Gentiles."  Maybe I'm pressing it too much.  But it
is a major feature of NT history that many Gentiles come into the kingdom.
The inhumi, however, seem intractable.  But maybe you're seeing these
"conversions" as typical.  But I just can't help thinking that most, if not
all of the inhumi on Blue turn on Horn/silk in the attack at the wedding.
Of course, the last words of the book ("Good fishing!") seem to indicate a
further missionary effort to other "Gentiles" undertaken by the Bride
(Nettle), the Holy Spirit (Oreb), and a representative of the old world (the
old sybl).

Patera Bunny

---

From: James Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 09:37:58 +0000

At 10:02 PM 2/17/2001 -0600, Patera Bad Bunny wrote:
>(possibly Krait and Jahle alone; would you also say Fava?) "converted."

         I don't see the humans "on the whole" becoming better people 
either. I meant Wolfe's characters.
         But why not more inhumi? Well, I don't think the book of Acts or 
Paul's history is the main grid of the trilogy. It looks to me more like a 
Christianized Odyssey along with a medieval pilgrimage story (and I wonder 
if there is some specific crusade or pilgrimage narrative that Wolfe had in 
mind). I see the ripping out of eyes for others as a Pauline reference, as 
well as the fact that Horn is the first to begin to see a "mission to the 
inhumi." So, the "multitudes of gentiles" theme in Acts and the Epistles 
may well be lacking. At the same time, however, it does appear that 
multitudes of inhumi are wanting to become more human.
         The inhumi, however, are primarily our children. Like our 
children, they mirror us. Thus, Krait and Jahlee are Horn's children. Also, 
Horn does not like what he sees in Sinew precisely because Sinew mirrors 
Horn to himself. This is precisely what humans don't like about the 
inhumi-children: they mirror humanity to itself. That theme, I believe, is 
the much larger and pervasive theme in the trilogy.
         Or so it seems to me today.

Patera Nut.