Sev's family tree

Son of Witz · 27 Jan 2011, 06:18 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org (Son of Witz)
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:18:50 -0800
Subject: (urth) Sev's family tree
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZgvy6hZD9675H1kxFN-Zc38qUuG0Rnm_v7ZJp at mail.gmail.com>
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	<454A2FAE-7B89-408B-A433-DC9AE77CC631 at butcherbaker.org>
	<AANLkTikZgvy6hZD9675H1kxFN-Zc38qUuG0Rnm_v7ZJp at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <FD79E339-7EF9-40B8-A8AD-068ED6F6BC9F at butcherbaker.org>

On Jan 26, 2011, at 7:15 PM, Mr Thalassocrat <thalassocrat08 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:23 AM, Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote:
>  
> I do think there is reason to see Casdoe's family as a symbolic family to Severian.
> When he meets them, Severian has put Torture behind him, and is about to go through the various battles in SWORD, which, as I've described eleswhere, seem to be based on a vertical heirachy of Foes of the Increate that result in him truly becoming the Conciliator.  He has just DECENDED across an enormous swath of geologic time when he scales the cliff and arrives at a symbol of the most basic form of human existence.
> 
> This line is the kicker: "It seemed to me the archetype of those caves into which, as scholars teach, humanity has crept again at the lowest point of each cycle of civilization" and he goes on to say that it is the most romantic place he ever was, in retrospect.
> 
> So, at the "lowest point" syncs up well with his climb and the symbolism of going back past all the grand ages of ruined civilizations symbolized by the wall.  So what does he find there?  Why, a boy named Severian!
> 
> Why does this matter?  Considering that Severian brings the deluge and sets humanity back to the caves of civilazation's low point, it is very relevant.  THIS is the example of the humanity he wants to save, of a life he might like to have lead. The presence of a boy with his name makes him identify with it.  So when Typhon zaps the life out of Little Severian, it is a huge indicator to Sev as to what Typhon has to offer. Sev knows which side he is on; that of the humble human.  This is another reason that it is symbolically problematic to suggest Severian is part alien. He saves the world for humanity, and he sets things back to the simplicity of Casdoe's lifestyle.
>  
> Interesting!
>  
> On my reading - in which Sev is the dupe and Judas goat for a bunch of inimical aliens intent on slaughtering most of Urthly humanity, depriving the remnant of their history and establishing Sev as some kind of low-rent demigod to guide their future in line with the aliens' plans - it takes a different slant, of course.
>  
> Viz: Sev colludes with a repugnant alien beast to facilitate the death of most of Cadoe's family, leaving Little Sev as the only survivor.
>  
> Morally, I think, Sev is a cripple. He waxes lyrical about these people and their lives, yet constructively colludes in their horrible deaths. Later, he does the same thing on a much larger scale.
> 


Rad! 
That is so fucked up!

Here is a perfect example of an alternate reading that is absolutely suportable with the text.
I love that the text is so slippery that - in and of itself, without triple guessing every adjective -we have completely opposite readings that agree with the text.
Aestheticaly, I prefer my take to the one Mr. Thalassocrat lays out, but as far as I can tell, the "letter" of the book supports this reading.

 I would argue that I think it does not exactly seem to fit what I percieve as the "spirit" of the text, but clearly Wolfe is wiley and perverse enough to have had this intent, alongside, perhaps, his own preferred reading. But I'm only guessing what that might be through my own biased filters.
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