The Two Katharines

Lee Berman · 16 Aug 2010, 15:08 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:08:37 -0400
Subject: (urth) The Two Katharines
Message-ID: <SNT123-W634A56B2C75F768088CED6CF9B0 at phx.gbl>

>Antonio Marques- It's unnecessary cruelty to an innocent human being. Not the kind of thing
>that makes sense for me coming from the Guild.

>Ryan Dunn- The torturers are described as Seekers for Truth and Penitence... That they continue 
their practice at all is a signifier of honor to it's import and not the maniacal musings of 
brutes who would behead an innocent woman in order to elevate one of their own.

The admiration both of you share for the guild as it existed at the beginning of the story is not
shared by Severian. Earlier he parrots the justifications and rote reasons for the necessity of 
his guild but by the end has decided to reform it. 

Do not be deceived by the teachings of Master Gurloes, Jack Bauer and Dick Cheney. Torture IS 
unnecessary and cruel and so is the guild which beheads Holy Katharine each year. 
(sorry no more politics, I swear ;- ))

Ryan, I'm not so sure that guild would agree with your definition of "an innocent woman". First, it
would appear that Catherine (as Severian's mother) is not innocent or she wouldn't have been given to 
the torturers.

Second, the implication is that khaibits are being sacrificed each year. Khaibits are clones. How 
expendable are they considered in the Commonwealth? Every cell in your body is a clone of the other.
Yet we are willing to sacrifice the lives of millions of our clones in male masturbation, 
providing blood samples, amputation and other activities which benefit the greater source material.

If you were the unfaithful exultant Contessa Catherine and offered a 15-20 year reprieve from torture 
in exchange for providing yearly khaibit donations for ceremonial sacrifice, would you do it? 

Whether khaibits could be raised to willingly sacrifice themselves for the greater good of their mistress
is hardly a question worth asking, given our human history full of willing human sacrifices to the gods, 
Jonestown, samurai, Heaven's Gate, and Pat Tillmans willing to give up their lives for honor, glory and 
the greater good.

(sorry, my oath once again broken)

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