Father Inire Theory cont.

David Stockhoff · 10 Dec 2010, 19:05 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:05:37 -0500
Subject: (urth) Father Inire Theory cont.
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W164D73548CC2BCEE8BABFBCF2F0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W164D73548CC2BCEE8BABFBCF2F0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4D027A01.4020408 at verizon.net>

A fair question. The Devil is a gross caricature, of course---I do not 
expect horns and a tail. But I do expect:

(1) a global or limited-universal presence

(2) some sense of the existence of true evil

(3) some demonstration of opposition to the Above

My objection to the Devil in terms of taste and style---literally---is 
far more important than any personal inclination against 
personification. So let's set him aside, because he is truly a 
tasteless, crude, cartoonish, pop figure who has only occasionally 
received a respectable literary treatment (see Hawthorne). People don't 
tend to write novels about him---they write jokes, as has Wolfe himself.

Lucifer, on the other hand, could fit the bill. But now we need to add 
some taint of hubris, some loss of the Empyrean, some proud rebellion. 
Again, you can conjecture his existence from the pattern of Vodalus. But 
there is no such figure.

Does Inire fight to keep or expand his kingdom? Does he sit glowering on 
his darkly glowing throne? Is he basically trapped on Urth, as in 
Milton? (If so, how can he travel through mirrors? There was some 
discussion of that.) If he has truly lost his ability to leave Urth, 
then we might have a strong connection.

Inire is everywhere a vizier needs to be. But he isn't everywhere, he 
isn't truly evil, and he isn't rebelling against anything. I agree that 
he takes a certain "fallen," or at least grounded, angel position like 
that between Pope and God, but if he is the personification of evil, 
what is Erebus?

On 12/10/2010 1:31 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
> In a way you are asking the religious philosophical question of the centuries: What would it take
> for you to believe in God/The Devil?  What would you need to see?
>
> I am hoping you will answer that question for BotNS and I will wait for it.

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