Boatman as Inire

Lee Berman · 08 Aug 2010, 10:09 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 06:09:25 -0400
Subject: (urth) Boatman as Inire
Message-ID: <SNT123-W3F2049068036796E3EA64CF930 at phx.gbl>

>Ryan Dunn: Another thing. I think in some ways, UotNS is basically BotNS For Dummies. 
>Zak is, to me, a demonstration of shapeshifting so undeniable that we may be prompted 
>to look back at the tetralogy and inspect that concept further. I think UotNS could be 
>used as a code breaker for several BotNS mysteries.

>If you're smelling what I'm cooking, who might Zak/Tzdakiel be pointing to in BotNS? I 
>can think of no other candidate as good as Inire. Hethor maybe a close second, but Inire, 
>and monkey like sightings keep my arm hairs raised the more I read the original four books.

I can whiff that funky cuisine bro. Zak does go through a primate phase, doesn't he. We see a 
character who resembles Hethor on the ship also, in the weird part where Severian is 
kidnapped and ordered to move like an Autarch hologram. I find that one of the most difficult
scenes in the 5 books to comprehend. But working on it. What IS Hethor?

I once might have thought some of the stuff that happens on Yesod is new stuff, but lately
the sham of all that trial stuff seems to echo the sham of the Commonwealth-Ascia war 
(though such shams do kill people) and is perhaps akin to it. Burgundofora is sorta new as
she seems to be a combination Mary Magdalene/Judas figure. Then again The Temptation of Typhon
already sets up Severian as a Jesus-like figure.

So, yeah, if everything else, B, F and O, The Conciliator, Ushas, Juturna, Apu Punchau, etc., 
in UotNS refers back to  the first four books, what does the the evolution and shape shifting 
of shaggy blob apport, to monkey-like thing to Zak, to Tzadkiel, male and female refer back to? 
I certainly find it to be an interesting question.

The part where Severian views Tzadkiel's portals as an advanced version of Father Inire's seems
important to me. Perhaps all of the Commonwealth is run in a similar, though inferior, manner to
Tzadkiel's ship (sham battles and wars to test character and loyalty included).

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