_Peace_ by Gene Wolfe (SPOILERS)

adam louis stephanides · 18 Sep 1996, 00:42 · from sf-lovers.1996.mbox

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From: astephan at students.uiuc.edu (adam louis stephanides)
Subject: _Peace_ by Gene Wolfe (SPOILERS)
Date: 18 Sep 1996 00:42:04 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v21-404-3 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V21 #404
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-21b

I recently reread _Peace_ by Gene Wolfe.  I accept that Weer is dead, but
I'm not sure I found all the evidence for this, or that I fully understand
what's there.  Here is the internal evidence I found, in roughly descending
order of importance (as distinct from the external evidence that Wolfe has
apparently said Weer is supposed to be dead):

1) At the start of the book we are told that the elm tree planted by
Eleanor Bold fell outside the window of Weer's house.  Towards the end we
learn that "Mrs.  Porter's" hobby is to plant trees on the graves of her
friends.  It is indicated that Mrs. Porter is Eleanor Bold.

2) It is very unlikely that a wealthy man who is as sick as Weer purports
to be would be living entirely on his own, without a nurse or housekeeper;
and why would he be unable to see a real doctor?

3) The ghost stories incorporated in the book, which are no proof of
anything, but set us thinking in that direction.

Is there anything I've missed?

I also have to admit that I don't fully understand how the elm tree is
supposed to work.  How do we know that the tree is planted on Weer's grave?
Because it is outside Weer's house?  But wouldn't it be more usual for Weer
to be buried in a cemetery?

Somebody once suggested in this group that Weer's house was a "memory
palace": a mnemonic device existing only in Weer's mind.  This would take
care of the prob- lem in the last paragraph, but it seems unlikely to me
for two reasons:

1) Weer clearly recalls consulting with an architect about the blueprints
of the house.

2) In my understanding of such "memory palaces" (which is drawn primarily
from _Little, Big_, so I might very well be wrong), the idea was that you
filled the rooms or other places you imagined with objects which were
supposed to call to mind whatever you wanted to remember, not with the
exact furnishings those rooms had in real life.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Adam

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