Severian as a student

Dave Tallman · 04 Jun 2008, 11:02 · from 2008-June.txt.gz

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From: davetallman at msn.com (Dave Tallman)
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:02:22 -0600
Subject: (urth) Severian as a student
Message-ID: <4846763E.7070600 at gmail.com>

Roy C. Lackey wrote:
> We are talking about inconsistencies within the same document, not comparing
> documents. When Sev relates some incident in his document, then has occasion
> later in the document to make reference to the same incident, and the two
> accounts are inconsistent, then obviously at least one mistake has been
> made. It doesn't really matter whether Hildegrin or Thea received the gun
> from Vodalus; neither used it. The only question is whether Wolfe or Sev
> made the mistake.
>
>   
There in a line in Claw which helps clarify matters:
"But I can remember more than many would credit: the position of each 
object on a table I walked past when I was a child, and even that I have 
recalled some scene to mind previously, and how that remembered incident 
differed from the memory I have of it now."

Severian's memory is vivid and detailed to him, but not necessarily 
perfect. He also mentions weak judgement. Perhaps he records the 
memories as they occur to him at the time of writing, not judging 
between versions if the differences are trivial.
> If Sev ever had occasion to notice that he had contradicted himself, then he
> had the opportunity to correct his account by amending it, either by
> changing the first mention to agree with the second, or the other way
> around. And we would never know that he had made a mistake of memory. He
> takes such pains to insist that his memory is perfect that he would never
> knowingly demonstrate that it wasn't.
>   
It may also be that the rewriting just used memories of the act of 
writing itself in order to re-create the book quickly. Sev may not have 
exercised additional editorial judgement in the process.

> The doeskin/manskin pouch thing is not as easily dismissed as most of the
> other mistakes. Doeskin and manskin have very different connotations. It is
> almost impossible for me to believe that Wolfe made that mistake. It is
> almost equally difficult for me to believe that dear Dorcas would sew a
> pouch made from human skin to house the most celebrated religious icon on
> the planet.
>   
The sheath of Terminus Est was manskin, which was an appropriate 
material for it. Probably Dorcas used doeskin and Sev's memories of the 
sheath got mixed in somewhere.

I found an additional reference to his student days: " It was my power 
of recollection that made me the favorite pupil of Master Palaemon." 
Going back to my theory, I think that this may have been true in the 
early days of working with Palaemon until Sev decided it was dangerous 
to show up the other students. Then he went into the act of having a 
poor memory.

The eidelon Malrubius said, "You were always the most careless of my 
boys." Sev at first pretended that he didn't remember studying the seven 
principles of governance, but when pressed he could name them. That also 
fits the poor-student-act theory.

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