# Digest whorl.v001.n057 *The Whorl list — 3 messages, 3 voices, 10 Mar 1997* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Kieran Mullen *10 Mar 1997, 18:58* How did Silk know Hyacinth's name when they first met? (Silk is hiding in her bedroom, guards come in looking for intruder, and Silk plays role of a "client". He tells Hyacinth to go back to sleep, calling her by name. She remarks later that he got her name right.) The text is quite suggestive - Silk feels as if something in him reaches out to Hyacinth w/o touching her. Here are (IMO) a few other big hidden questions: - Since Silk seems to come from a frozen embryo, does he have a superhuman talent? - Why does the monitor send them to Blue, over their instructions? - What was the ghost of Patera Pike that Silk saw? I also have a bunch of "minor" questions. - Is Silk scanned at Mainframe? (Note this fits into Silk's Christic image: he is tempted to cast himself down from a high place, and then tempted to become a ruler of all the world. Severian's temptation "in the desert" by Typhon is even more explicit. They both are pretty clearly related to the three temptations of Christ.) - What is Oreb? (I think that Oreb reflects a line of C.S. Lewis, that we are gods to animals, enobling them and drawing them to higher levels of reflection, and that a proper relationship with them would reflect this. Oreb refers to Silk as his god.) I confess I see most things in this novel with a theological perspective, and that Wolfe's work is interesting to me as a piece of theological science fiction. (There are a few others in the genre.) One "major" question I omitted from above list is whether or not Silk's revelations were real. I think Wolfe allows the reader to assume what s/he wishes on this score. I like that. Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com --- ### revjack at radix.net *11 Mar 1997, 02:11 · follows Kieran Mullen* On Mon, 10 Mar 1997 18:58:43 -0600, Kieran Mullen wrote: : How did Silk know Hyacinth's name when they first met? (Silk is hiding : in her bedroom, guards come in looking for intruder, and Silk plays role of : a "client". He tells Hyacinth to go back to sleep, calling her by name. She : remarks later that he got her name right.) The text is quite suggestive - : Silk feels as if something in him reaches out to Hyacinth w/o touching : her. When he was in the dressing room, he found a needler decorated with hyacinths, deduced that it was hers, and took a *big* chance when the guards broke in. : Here are (IMO) a few other big hidden questions: : : - Since Silk seems to come from a frozen embryo, does he have a : superhuman talent? He certainly seems to heal quickly. : - Why does the monitor send them to Blue, over their instructions? I'm still puzzling over this one, and the others. Patera Jack _________________ revjack at radix.net Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com --- ### Ranjit Bhatnagar *10 Mar 1997, 23:35 · follows revjack at radix.net* > How did Silk know Hyacinth's name when they first met? (Silk is hiding He made a lucky guess based on the Hyacinth designs embossed on her needler. > Here are (IMO) a few other big hidden questions: You can find a lot of discussion of these questions -- but not necessarily answers! -- in the archives, on the web at http://moonmilk.volcano.org/whorl/ That's not to say that your questions aren't worth discussing further. Good point about the Temptations of Silk: to cast himself from a high place; to rule the whorl. Who or what was tempting him in the first instance? And what is the other of the three temptations? He always seems to be starving, but he didn't turn down Auk's invitation to dinner... I noticed a lot of very vivid descriptions of food in the Long Sun books. Somehow Severian's story never made me hungry. r. Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com ---