Resurrections

Lee Berman · 31 Jul 2010, 08:01 · from 2010-July.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:01:35 -0400
Subject: (urth) Resurrections
Message-ID: <SNT123-W102EAF82936D83BA5B3B78CFAB0 at phx.gbl>

>Jeff Wilson- This could be from duty and from a hope of redemption, that they can
>continue to serve the cause of Urth, instead of ending in failure. And it
>could be some projection on Sev's part, relieved that he didn't become a
>puppet of the dozens of imperious minds of his predecessors. It's his
>glands that are still real, after all. Something in the process may keep the
>duplicated personalities amiable to the situation, the way the Casdoe's husband's
>imprint wasn't upset or particularly concerned about having been eaten or helping
>the alzabo kill and eat the rest of his family.

I think this is a very apt comparison which I haven't seen made before.

I can't help but think that horror was intended in the scene where Becan is so 
immediately happy and accepting of his new existence as chunks of chewed meat in the 
Alzabo digestive system and as a (presumably) temporary neural circuit that he is
willingly desirous that his family join him in the belly of the beast.

Yet under similar circumstances we are supposed to interpret rapture instead of 
horror for the beings living on in Severian? I just don't know. Perhaps it is meant
to be an individual interpretation. But my impression is that for Thecla and for the
others in Severian's head it isn't a divine experience. At best they all remain
lonely and unfulfilled. We don't hear much from them in UotNS.

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