A very interesting interview indeed

Daniel D Jones · 09 Sep 2006, 13:22 · from 2006-September.txt.gz

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From: ddjones at riddlemaster.org (Daniel D Jones)
Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 09:22:41 -0400
Subject: (urth) A very interesting interview indeed
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On Friday 08 September 2006 07:04, thalassocrat at nym.hush.com wrote:
> On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 05:36:38 +1000 Adam Thornton <adam at io.com>
>
> wrote:
> >I was reading the recently-posted Larry McCaffery interview, in
> >which
> >the mystery of 5HC is "given away" (http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/
> >interviews/wolfe46interview.htm)
> >
> >There's the following quotation in it too:
> >
> >"The fact that you stand there and let someone hit you in the face
> >
> >
> >doesn't do anything to eliminate violence (it may even contribute
> >to
> >further violence) ?which is one of the underlying themes in The
> >Book
> >of the New Sun."
> >
> >That seems a very explicit repudiation of one of the more
> >memorable
> >passages in a book that's generally considered to be a pretty huge
> >
> >
> >influence on Wolfe's work generally and BotNS in particular.
>
> The most striking manifestation of this to me is Sev's behavior
> when he's arrested in UOTNS. He messes up  bunch of soldiers, and
> then he kills the prison governess almost immediately upon meeting
> her. If I were a Christian, I'd find those pretty disturbing events
> in Sev's "ministry".
>
> I can never make up my mind whether (a) Wolfe thinks Jesus was a
> wuss & that Sev is showing how a non-wuss handles this kind of
> situation (b) it's another indication that the universe of New Sun
> isn't ours, in line with theories I've posted previously (c) Wolfe
> thinks the Bible got it wrong and that, in fact, Jesus went down
> fighting (d) some other damn thing.

I think seeing Sev as a direct parallel to Jesus is a mistake.  Certainly, he 
is in some sense a Messiah figure but I think that's he's both more and less.  
More, in that there are a great many other themes and issues being addressed 
than solely a Messiah, and less in that Sev certainly isn't in any sense a 
perfect representative as Christ was supposed to be.  If you're a Christian, 
you're supposed to use Christ's actions as a model on which to base your own.  
It's become a trite phrase but that's exactly what WWJD means.  I don't think 
Wolfe ever intended anyone to ask WWSD, so trying to draw critiques of 
Christ's actions from Sev's actions is, I think, missing the mark.

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