Severian's dream ideas

maa32 · 18 Mar 2002, 17:33 · from urth-v0203.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) Severian's dream ideas
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 10:33:56 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0203-368 at digest.urth.net>
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In the second chapter of Shadow of the Torturer, which I happened to glance=
 at=20
quickly before I left my book in a temporarily inaccessible place, stated t=
hat=20
Severian was certain of two ideas (almost dreams): that time itself would s=
top=20
and that the sun would wink out, and that a miraculous candle or flambeau=20
would come and restore light.  The immediately following sentence struck me=
 as=20
a blow: that bushes would sprout feelers and crawl around, and that underbr=
ush=20
would grow eyes.  Does anybody have access to that quote in a hurry?  Does=20
that not portend what I have been stating in my Short Sun "theories" in an=20
eerily scary way?  I can find the quote tomorrow, but I had to post while i=
t=20
was still fresh in my mind. More evidence for a plant to animal theme.

Another point I really think that detractors from my theory need to contend=20
with is the obvious importance of the inhumu breeding: they start by gather=
ing=20
trees and vines into a hut, pretend to be human, then release their stuff i=
nto=20
a polyploid system as primitive animals do.  We are all familiar that early=20
fetal development mirrors evolution: you start out looking like simple cell=20
systems, then in the first month or two your fetus is practically=20
indistinguishable from primitive animals like fish with no limbs, then you=20
develop more and more into the shape you will take.

I contend that the step of gathering trees and vines is a case of this=20
evolutionary process;  someone needs to explain that scene satisfactorily, =
as=20
well as the presence of a wall under the waters of Blue, as well as the cla=
im=20
that the Vanished People originated on Green before destroying "[Silk's]=20
friends" and moving to Blue, as well as why it is mentioned that Urth is=20
saltier than Urth twice, as well as why Babbie treats Hoof differently than=
 he=20
treats other characters and points to his Horns -> disprove that Babbie is=20
Horn and my Tree theory loses most of its strength - it really relies on th=
e=20
presence of a tree at the end of On Blue's Waters and at the beginning of I=
n=20
Green's Jungles (notice how Cugino cuts the staff from a huge tree that is=20
just like the ones on green that eat other trees).  Also, you need to expla=
in=20
the eucharist's significance beside the transformation of one matter to=20
another, and you need to say who was watching Silk in his forest eucharist =
in=20
In Green's Jungles when he had his back turned - if you claim it was the=20
Vanished People and not the trees, you need to account for his claim in Dor=
p=20
that he had not seen the Vanished People since Horn perished on Green.

You also need to account for why Horn was so scared when he saw that the=20
Island of the Pit was made up entirely of huge trees, and why the vanished=20
people got so mad at the woodman when he went into the forest to cut down=20
trees. You can't ignore these things and seriously threaten my theories, ca=
n=20
you? Especially by math; math doesn't appear in the books, but hybridizatio=
n=20
and genetics does; in the very first chapter. Also, the previous concept of=
 a=20
tree ship makes the transfer from Green to Blue that the inhumu make more=20
tenable than purely animal life.  And my Urth/Blue theory simplifies the=20
Scylla complications: she is related to the old Scylla, and really can tell=20
the narrator how to find Seawrack.  How can Scylla travel between stars; an=
d=20
why would the destination of the Whorl happen to have the sister of old Scy=
lla=20
unless Typhon and Scylla where in big cahoots? Was there any evidence that=20
Typhon was contiguous with Scylla in time? Isn't it easier to believe that=20
Typhon wanted to repopulate with his own particular brand of Godhood after =
any=20
forseeable catastrophe, to insure his immortality on the home world? (Seein=
g=20
that we haven't mentioned this too much, I will now propose a theme for the=20
Short Sun books:

Theme:

You can't go home again; either you or it has changed beyond recognition. =20
Horn is not Horn when he comes home; Silk can never return to Hyacinth; Sil=
k=20
going to New Viron is fruitless because the people there are too wicked; Pa=
s=20
has become Silk and will not be purely Typhon when he comes down to Blue; n=
o=20
one can recognize their homeworld because it has changed so much (flooded,=20
animal life transformed, moon terraformed out of control, orbit changed, ne=
w=20
sun). Babbie meets up with his son Hoof but is not recognized because he is=
 in=20
a creature, no one can recognize their home.

Account for all of these things convincingly and I will gladly concede.
Marc Aramini

--=20

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