Death and Resurrection: Shadow of the Torturer Chapter I

Lee · 11 Aug 2014, 13:19 · from 2014-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee)
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 09:19:57 -0400
Subject: (urth) Death and Resurrection: Shadow of the Torturer Chapter I
Message-ID: <BLU175-W19A3C1C0DE279DBEA361ADCFED0 at phx.gbl>

>Marco Cecchini: Catherine, Severian's mother, is the most obscure character of The 

>Book of the New Sun.Please, note the simmetry (and the opposition):  Severian 

>(some iteration of Severian) is lifted, risen up (resurrected) from water by Juturna, 

>(the Undine (a water being).  The white gown's woman buried in the necropolis 

>(some iteration of Severian's mother, I think) is lifted, risen up (resurrected) from 

>earth by Hildegrin (the Badger, an earth being).

Excellent thoughts Marco. I like it a lot.

>Gerry Quinn: (If the New Sun is fire, we now need only air!)

My thoughts drifted in a similar direction. But I am considering the resurrection theme

as separate issues between Severian's (godlike) self-resurrections and his family's.

Starting with Severian's mother figure being resurrected from the earth, is it

possible the water resurrection in the series is Dorcas, his grandmother? 

We must wonder about Thecla also, who was pulled from a grave and eaten in an unholy eucharist

ritual, in the same manner as Severian's mother figure in the white gown.

There is another Severian Mother figure, with Catherine's dark hair, olive skin and oval 

face who is seen on the "Path Of Air" in the Secret House. The same figure appears on the

"Road of Air" in Dr. Talos' play, in the form of Contessa Carina (like Caterina, a form of

Catherine).

With regard to fire, perhaps any use of the Claw by Severian represents the power of the New

Sun, and thus fire, as Gerry suggests.

I wonder about a character named Mother Pyrexia, though. And if there is a "creature of fire"

surely the Salamander must be put into consideration. Actually Borski considers that there

might be a connection between the Salamander and Mother Pyrexia, based purely on her name.

In regard to Severian's own resurrections, I take them as a part of his status as an immortal

god, something he basically realizes as he writes, but is unwilling to fully admit to his 

readers for obvious reasons. Given this immortality, he does encounter beings who are 

interested in him for his actions in the distant past as well as his status in the far-

flung future, as Marco has noted.

Like any good Greek or Roman demi-god, he starts his life with uncertain parentage, but imbued

with mysterious powers and a suspicious inability to die. He goes on a journey of self-discovery, 

the story of which is what we call BotNS. By the end, his godhood and immortality are fairly

well established, though Severian never fully and openly acknowledges it.

Regarding the Christian aspects of the story, some may find an emphasis on earlier pagan

godhood to be incongruous. But my impression is that Gene Wolfe sees an unbroken line of

spirituality stretching from the Greek and Roman, through the pagan and "gnostic"

Alexandrian period through to the time of Jesus.

There are transitional figures between these religious phases including the Cumaean Sybil, 

Dionysus, Great God Pan and even Alexander himself. I look to the Long and Short Sun stories

in which gods are represented as "cards" which are periodically shuffled and redealt. Sumerian->

Egyptian-> Greek-> Roman-> gnostic/Dionysian-> Christian?

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