The Katharine maid

Jeff Wilson · 27 Oct 2006, 04:47 · from 2006-October.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 23:47:21 -0500
Subject: (urth) The Katharine maid
In-Reply-To: <p06230906c165f8c08c30@[209.157.132.35]>
References: <p06230906c165f8c08c30@[209.157.132.35]>
Message-ID: <45418F59.4040400 at io.com>

Dan Rabin wrote:
>> Jeff Wilson:  Does this imply Brother Cook and Brother Porter are 
>> likewise eidolons?
>>
>> Roy Lackey:  Huh? They weren't eidolons. I don't understand.
>>
>> Jeff Wilson: They seem to be menial functionaries, and they don't 
>> have saints' names,
>> suggesting they are not like other residents of the Commonwealth.
> 
> Hmm.  I always assumed that these two were perfectly ordinary guild 
> members whose names happened not to be used in these references 
> because Severian was talking about their roles, not their identities. 
> This would be something like referring (in contemporary America) to 
> "Dean of Sciences" or "Attending Physician".
> 
> I also assume, though I can't put my finger on any evidence, that 
> guild brothers in such roles are not on track to becoming masters.

but there are no other "Brothers" mentioned in the guild, and no way to 
become one mentioned in the discussion of the guild ranks. This would 
imply that not only has no-one become a Brother during Severian's tenure 
  with them, but no one has even mentioned it either. It's like the 
typical childhood image of school teachers who live inside the school 
house, never seen in any other context.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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