Severian as Savior; Destruction Of Urth As Redemptive Act?

Jack Redelfs · 20 Aug 2006, 20:57 · from 2006-August.txt.gz

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From: jackredelfs at gmail.com (Jack Redelfs)
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:57:34 -0600
Subject: (urth) Severian as Savior; Destruction Of Urth As Redemptive Act?
Message-ID: <19ee41770608201357p2c3bb58t1d04d69d7aa83ba5 at mail.gmail.com>

I've only posted once or twice in the past few years of reading this
list, I've only posted once or twice, but for some reason I caught the bug
today.

Here's a statement by Adam Stephanides:

>Severian in UotNS and Latro in SOLDIER OF ARETE both go through
>periods of severe depression; Severian is near-suicidal iirc, although
>this isn't too surprising since he's just caused the death of billions
>of people.

Time after time this event (the destruction of Urth and the concurrent
renewal of Ushas) seems to be viewed by readers as a holocaust, wholly dark
in impact, or at the very least morally weird and perplexing.

I got a very different impression on reading UOTNS. In my reading, Severian
may have killed billions of people, but it was a justifiable "cracking of
eggs" in order to bring about a righteous purpose. The ultimate outcome was
not just redemptive for the aging sun, but for humanity as a whole.

>From my reading, the destruction of Urth was righteous for
two reasons:

1) Most importantly, it was a moral redemption. After all,
life without honor is a living death.

2) It was a physical redemption, preserving the bloodlines of
Urth. Immediate trauma is preferable to eventual extinction.
Humanity was trapped on Urth (although probably by choice)
and the sun was fading very fast. True, Severian has the
ability to escape by various means, but he seems a special
case. Despite the ephemeral presence of cacogens, there was nowhere for
Jonas and co. to dock, and no more Whorls in the making.

Assumption no. 1 deserves more explanation.
In _The Claw Of The Conciliator_, Wolfe states that, just as the brutes that
attack Severian in the underground stream have become
warped by their long sojourn in darkness, so has humanity become twisted by
the fading of the sun[1]. Observe Urth's casual acceptance of torture,
public execution, prostitution, dictatorship. It's a a brutal worldview that
most of the characters seem to share. Severian is often called an anti-hero
for his occasionally cruel behavior, but in this regard I see him as merely
a man of his times (In any case, I think Sev's sin is
often overemphasized over his kindness - especially by himself. Like many of
Wolfe's protagonists, Severian's humble
nature verges on a crisis of confidence).

Just as commoners and gentry alike speak in genteel language, while engaging
in horrid cruelties, so does Urth seem like a parody of Earth, an ornate
collection of lies. Or, if you will, a painted sepulchre rotten on the
inside.

If Wolfe is a good Christian he accepts the Judaeo-Christian belief that,
just as God gives life, it is his to take away (Is it Pindaros, in SOTM, who
states "we universally recognize the right of Gods to slaughter men as men
slaughter beasts" ? An archaic idea, but fully acceptable to Christianity).
Hence the rightness of a redemptive flood, to sweep away a corrupt system
and replace it with a clean slate.

Am I misreading the text in seeing the flooding of Urth as painful but
necessary for the moral and physical health of the human race?

[1] I don't have a reference, but it was a discussion between Severian and
Jonas, perhaps immediately after Severian captured, than freed Agia, a one
of his many humane acts.
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