Last questions on Short Sun

Stephen Case · 04 Jul 2002, 04:32 · from urth-v0207.mbox · original

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From: "Stephen Case" <scase at olivet.edu>
Subject: (urth) Last questions on Short Sun
Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2002 23:32:36 -0500
Message-ID: <urth-v0207-1299 at digest.urth.net>
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Today I finished Return to the Whorl, thus completing my second read of =3D
the Short Sun books.  I remain as convinced as ever that they were a =3D
superb story, reaching a satisfactory conclusion and tying up most of the =
=3D
loose ends-- enough, in my opinion.  After finishing the books again, I'm =
=3D
left with only a few questions.  I apologize if they've already been =3D
answered somewhere.

The first struck me over and over as I was reading On Blue's Waters, =3D
though perhaps it was partially answered in Return to the Whorl.  It is =3D
this: why does Horn hate Sinew so much?  He hates his own son enough that =
=3D
when he shows up on the river to Pajurocu, Horn writes that he would have =
=3D
killed him if Seawrack hadn't been around.  Why?  Horn has his faults, but =
=3D
he seems to be a resonable, loving father, at least to the twins.  Why the =
=3D
animosity towards Sinew?  I wondered if it had something to do with Sinew =
=3D
not having a soul or something along those lines as a result of being bit =
=3D
by Jahlee as a child.  Return to the Whorl seemed to confirm this.  As =3D
Jahlee is dying, she reveils The Secret, which seems to be that to have =3D
intelligent children, the Inhumas must steal the mind from a human child.  =
=3D
She says "Without blood, our children have no minds . . . Their minds are =
=3D
yours.  Here, long ago, I drank the blood of your small son.  Krait was my =
=3D
son, the ONLY ONE who lived with the mind it took from yours."  Whether or =
=3D
not this is The Secret, it satisfies me.  What I still don't understand =3D
though, and what this passage seems to be saying, is that somehow Sinew =3D
did not have a mind/soul/whatever.  Is this why Horn hated him?  Sinew =3D
seemed not to hold any particular animosity towards his father other than =
=3D
the normal willfull teenage stubbornness.  Did Horn somehow subconsiously =
=3D
feel he was mindless or soul-less?  If that is true, hat does it say about =
=3D
other characters in the text?  Can we assume anyone else's mind was stolen =
=3D
by being bit by inhuma?  Mora's grandmother perhaps?

Question number two: What exactly is the deal with Pig?  We know he was a =
=3D
godling, worked as a mercenary while doing Pas's will by driving people =3D
from the Whorl, and killed an auger in front of his window while looting a =
=3D
town.  When this happened, he was possessed by a piece of the piece of =3D
Silk that became a part of Pas in Exodus. (?)  The piece of Silk drove him =
=3D
to find Hyacinth's body in the manse where she and Silk lived and later to =
=3D
mourne her in Blood's villa.  Horn/Silk made contact with the piece of =3D
Silk in Pig and restored his sight by donating an eye.  I guess my =3D
question then is, do I have it right?  What purpose did Pig serve?  I know =
=3D
some speculated that Pig actually killed or at least fought with Silk at =
=3D
the old manse before Horn came along, but this doesn't seem to fit with =3D
what I think is Silk's obvious suicide attempt.  If he didn't try to kill =
=3D
himself, that very last scene with Remora doesn't make sense.

Okay, last and most troubling question:  Why doesn't Silk/Horn eat?  Wolfe =
=3D
makes it clear all the way through Green's Jungles and Return to the Whorl =
=3D
that he eats very little, if anything.  And yet I can't seem to find any =
=3D
other clues that would explain this.  The only possibility I can imagine-- =
=3D
and don't want to-- is that somehow Silk/Horn is an inhumu.  The biggest =
=3D
clue I could find was near the end of Ch. 18 in Return to the Whorl.  =3D
Hoof, Silk/Horn, and Juganu are on the boat after returning from the Red =
=3D
Sun Whorl.  Hoof writes: "Father nodded and sipped from the wine bottle; =
=3D
sometimes it seemed like he was just pretending to eat and drink, and this =
=3D
was one of them . . .  Juganu had been listening to us, and had even =3D
swallowed some soup."  Here not only does it reiterate that Silk/Horn eats =
=3D
little to nothing, but it shows that inhumu can eat a little.  Silk/Horn =
=3D
an inhumu?  I can't even begin to figure this one out.

Any illuminaion would be appreciated,
-Steve

--=20

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