Close Reading: Torturer Chapter I

b sharp · 05 Sep 2006, 13:24 · from 2006-September.txt.gz

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From: bsharporflat at hotmail.com (b sharp)
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 09:24:40 -0400
Subject: (urth) Close Reading: Torturer Chapter I
Message-ID: <BAY103-F894AAA99C6F51F0461852D7300 at phx.gbl>

Welcome to Jon Capps!

JWillard writes:
>Maybe this is a dumb idea, but I thought today that it might be interesting 
>to start a close-reading project.....

Not dumb, but rather extremely ambitious.  I'm willing to do anything to 
shed more light on BotNS.   I'm not sure where to draw the line on what is 
too prosaic to be worth mentioning for this audience.  The tone JWillard 
sets with his first chapter observations is pretty high on the esoteric 
scale.

For my contribution to Chapter 1 I'll draw attention to this reference 
regarding the three grave robbers: "As though an amschaspand had touched 
them with his radiant wand, the fog swirled and parted to let a beam of 
green moonlight fall."

Amesha Spenta or Ameshaspand is a Persian deity of purified light who 
specifically opposes the gods of darkness.  This reminds me of Wolfe giving 
a golden aureole to the unpleasant characters Agia and Agilus.  Does this 
mean that people with nasty behavior can (or always do) contribute to a 
larger holy purpose?

I'd like to ask why Severian and companions were trying to get into the 
graveyard at night, do we know?  Eata was trying to slip through the bars 
and they seem afraid the guard will return. Yet Severian notes a path inside 
the gate they had used to return to the Citadel in previous visits.

For What Its Worth comments on some of JWillard's observations and notes:

On Thea:
>Significance of the heart-shaped face?

Contrast this to Thecla's triangular face (and widow's peak). What is the 
relationship between a heart and triangle?  Sunken cheeks?  I've previously 
proposed a kaibit relationship.

>Is there anything odd about Hildegrin never having used a pistol?

I think it establishes him as a working class kind of guy while advanced 
weaponry is reserved for big shots with access to stellar technology.  I 
think pulling a dead body up like a "carrot" is another way to establish 
Hildegrin as a badger, a digger, a practical guy who gets things done 
without sentiment.

>Who was dug up?

A dark haired woman in a pale gown with a livid face (Allowin's Neckace?). 
She has tribade (lesbian) tendencies according to Vodalus' followers.  
Severian sees her face in Ultan's face.  On Flood Day, Severian sees a dark 
haired woman in a pale gown on the Path of Air with something familiar about 
her face.  In Talos' play, the woman on the Road of Air is Contessa Carina.  
Any other clues people have spotted?

>"and what power of Erebus's gives you the right to come here and do 
>something like this?"  >Something interesting I found in the W2 awhile ago: 
>  According to some sources, Charon is the >son of Erebus.  Is Erebus 
>somehow Severian's great-grandfather?

Yes, I think so, Charon being the son of Erebus (darkness) and his sister, 
Nyx (Night). And let's not forget that Charon's associate, Cerberus (Wolfe?) 
was the son of Typhon and Echidna.

>A Vodalarius is a follower of Vodalus.  What is Severian a follower of 
>(figuratively or literally)?

I always felt the Vodalus plot-line was meant to suggest that when we are 
young we often idolize negative people, buying into the glamour and 
rebellion. But later, when we gain wisdom, we see them exposed, as the false 
gold of a counterfeit chrisos.

>Suspicious sentence:  "The knife had somehow fallen from the dead man's 
>neck.  Perhaps he had >pulled it out in his agony."  Whenever Severian uses 
>a perhaps, or one of its relatives, I get >nervous.  What other purpose 
>would the line have?  Is this someone half-healed by Severian's presence?

Interesting, I'd always thought Severian's first narrative act of healing 
was Triskele. But perhaps this is.

>"Of those values ... I accepted only one: loyalty to the guild."  Used to 
>think this was noble.  Now >wonder, programming?

>From a religious, and especially Catholic perspective perhaps "programming" 
IS a noble thing.  A child starts with blind faith, as a young adult spends 
time doubting and questioning and pondering, eventually to the conclusion 
that salvation lies only in blind faith.  (Correct me if I'm wrong on that, 
especially those who were Jesuit trained).

-bsharp

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