What's So Great About Ushas?

b sharp · 05 Jun 2008, 16:41 · from 2008-June.txt.gz

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From: bsharporflat at hotmail.com (b sharp)
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 12:41:39 -0400
Subject: (urth) What's So Great About Ushas?
Message-ID: <BAY103-W1780F49E5AF02C4776A358D7B40 at phx.gbl>

In the "Sev the Murderer" thread Dave Tallman notes that Severian is a flawed hero, 
not a villain as almost everyone would agree.  As Thalassocrat points out, 
almost all humans would have been evacuated if Urth went to Ragnarok. Far more
people were killed in the creation of Ushas. True genocide. So why is Severian a hero 
and what is so great about Ushas?  I think the answer is the disguised subtext of the 
series.

For me, it is clear that Wolfe means to depict Urth as populated by a flawed
race of people.  For the universes to have a better future, this flawed race needs
to be wiped out, starting over from scratch.  I interpret that these flaws were based
on human issues that were troubling Wolfe at the time of writing this series.  Stuff 
like a propensity for empire building, toleration of torture, the potential abuse of 
genetic engineering and the potential for loss of personal identity associated with 
communism, cloning and artificial intelligence.  Human carnivory also seems to 
bother Wolfe.

But why does Wolfe find genocide necessary to cure these ills?  The sailors from the 
ship were used to re-populate Ushas, I think..  They seem like pretty normal people 
with human faults.  And there are lots of pretty good people on Urth.  Why were 
the sailors considered so superior to the human beings on Urth?  I think the 
answer lies in quirks of Wolfe's religious philosophy.

The pre-Christian religious competitors to Judaism were populated with some pretty
unpleasant characters:  gods and monsters with superhuman powers but usually
governed by the worst of human character flaws: domination, pride, anger, jealousy
and lust.  These gods often appeared as a family pantheon, mating incestuously with
each other.  Commonly they were shape shifters and some used this ability to take
human form, mating and reproducing with humans beings creating lesser-powered 
demi-gods and monsters.

The Judeo-Christian God is certainly superior, by our standards.  He had some early 
anger and jealousy issues but He seemed to evolve past that. Being monotheistic he 
didn't have the incest problem and His only human reproductive interaction was for
the purpose of human salvation not personal lust.  But in the Judaic tradition, some 
of God's angels fell and became demons and reproduced with humans creating the 
Nephilim giants.  Also, Lilith was said to mate with Adam, spawning various demons, 
lamia, vampires, etc. The Biblical Flood might have served the purpose of 
eliminating the nephilim, at the least.

I see the genetic corruption of the human race on Urth by shape-shifting aliens as 
one of the deepest underlying currents of BOTNS, the evidence mostly to be found 
in the dreams, stories and myths of the narrative.  Eschatology and Genesis, with 
Nod and Jahi and demons are the most explicit reference.  Severian/Thecla's 
post-battle vision of a bull father and being born under the swan seem direct 
Zeus-human mating references. Melito's and Foila's stories, Dorcas' veiled 
memories and many other story elements add contributing evidence. 

"Father" Inire, a bent, highly creative, Hephaestus-like personage, takes many 
forms (I think) and has a suspicious interest in young girls.  The Cumaean also 
takes numerous forms, like Lilith and Hecate is associated with snakes and 
witchcraft, and wants to usurp the Increatic power of resurrection from death.  
I think Wolfe sees these two characters as part of the problem on Urth, thus they 
are swept away from Ushas as are the other cacogens, megatherians, etc. 
(Why Juturna remains is an interesting question). 

I think Severian's incest problem goes significantly further than just with Dorcas.  
As in certain ancient Greek legends, including Oedipus, he belongs to a cursed 
family and is a reflection of how the  alien (pre-Christian gods) influence on 
humanity has irreversibly corrupted even the best of humanity which remains on 
Urth. Like 5HOC, the central mystery here is one of origin/identity.  And the answer, 
for Severian, is a bit different but as spooky as for Number 5 and VRT.

The sailors from the ship apparently left earth before these corrupting influences 
invaded Urth and that is what makes them good breeding stock for the new world. 
I think Severian, Thais, Odilo and Pega are meant to represent the only corrupted, 
Urthian humans to survive the flood. I think it is safe to assume these four did not 
produce children and the new, pure humanity of Ushas was able to evolve into green
people and beyond.

[I had always been mystified by the elusive sub-text of BOTNS. A couple years ago
I immersed myself in this list and other resources to come to these conclusions. 
Thanks to those patient souls here who indulged me with incisive feedback on ideas.]

-bsharp

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