Father Inire - Hethor

Andrew Mason · 20 Oct 2011, 19:26 · from 2011-October.txt.gz

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From: andrew.mason53 at googlemail.com (Andrew Mason)
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:26:32 +0100
Subject: (urth) Father Inire - Hethor
Message-ID: <CAM3O41JPNs5LY2fAVz5AOk2pnvAXawU-t_YsOvPzf_nbYZc2WA at mail.gmail.com>

.
Lee Berman wrote:

>
>
> Since Severian never tells us about a Father Inire appearance we might conclude Inire
>
> never appears. But if we think he DOES appear, then we have some very serious
>
> questions to answer about why Severian isn't telling us about him.

Because he is telling us about his expericence as it happened at the
time, and he didn't know it was Inire then?

>
> If Inire is just the cowled servitor and the jungle guide and Isangoma, then he doesn't
>
> matter very much. He is just a cameo appearance like Alfred Hitchock or Stan Lee popping
>
> up briefly in their movies. And perhaps that's all Inire is...just a wink and nod. For me,
>
> Severian's reticence must have more meaning than just to pull off this little parlour trick
>
> of a couple cameos.

I think there is a definite plotline involving Inire, which is a
mystery as it unfolds, but is fairly clear by the end. Inire is
tracking and guiding Severian, which becomes clear, if it wasn't
earlier, with Rudesind in the House Absolute, who actually _says_
quite openly that Inire told him what to say. We can also tell that
Inire  is in cahoots with the Autarch, since Rudesind guides Severian
to the Autarch. What we don't know at that point is to what end they
are guiding him and why. In the end we discover this: the purpose is
that he should kill the Autarch and become his successor; and the plot
began when the aquastor Paeon told the Autarch of his significance, on
the night when he visited the House Azure.

I do feel that, if Inire appears in three volumes, it would be good if
he were in the fourth as well, so I have tried to find him in SOTL.
The only possibility I can see is the autochthon disguised as an
autochthon who comes to the masked ball - another covered face.
Perhaps Severian has misinterpreted his disguise?

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