food of the narrator

maa32 · 16 Feb 2002, 22:45 · from urth-v0202.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) food of the narrator
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 15:45:40 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0202-164 at digest.urth.net>
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Some have recently speculated on the obviously disturbing lack of appetite =
in=20
the narrator of the Short Sun books.  Remember that in the chilly snows of =
In=20
Green's Jungles the narrator becomes deathly ill.  At first I ascribed this=
 to=20
being fed on by his liana staff. =20
My theory is that somehow the blood of the narrator has assimilated some pl=
ant=20
like qualities that allow him to feed directly from the sun.  If this is th=
e=20
case, then the link between the narrator and Severian becomes even more=20
explicit: the narrator is powered by Severian.  If Silk is in fact one of t=
he=20
first green men, then he no longer needs to eat and can simply pretend to e=
at.
 How were these factors introduced to his blood stream in particular?  We h=
ave=20
a case for the physical body of Horn being subjected to sharing blood with =
the=20
Vanished People (trees) when He Pen Sheep talks to him in On Blue's Waters =
and=20
says that Horn is a vanished person because he has traded blood with them=20
(which, I would argue, occurs when he falls in the pit and shares DNA, but =
is=20
somehow resurrected).  How were these elements introduced into the body of=20
Silk?  Through the soul of Horn? When he sits under the big tree at the end=
 of=20
On blue's Waters? I would argue that the wounds Silk has on his hands and a=
rms=20
at the very beginning of Return to the Whorl, which seemed to be caused by=20
some "brush", actually introduced this into his bloodstream (through tree=20
contact), which might have opened a path for Horn to travel into him in spi=
rit=20
(in other words, I am rejecting the Silk's suicide hypothesis in favor of a=20
Tree Attack).  When Silk runs out of the house, he runs into a big tree.  I=20
think Silk's appetite may have been affected by the sun-harnessing quality =
of=20
his mixed blood --> What does this say about his relationship to Severian? =
 If=20
Severian is the new sun that brings light to mankind, and Horn and Silk=20
together form one of the first men who can be sustained by that light, are=20
they some kind of new Adam to the more Godlike Severian? Or does Severian=20
serve Silk, since Silk in some ways is the good father figure of mankind, w=
ho=20
guides how he will write his narrative and advises him? And how the heck ar=
e=20
Triskele and Silk related?
OK, I guess you have to buy my tree ideas to believe this.  At least I've=20
convinced a few of us ... but when the sun is not around, Silk ails and the=20
inhumu (the vines of the trees) tend to die rather easily.
Marc Aramini

--=20

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