More on Jonas

Tony Ellis · 24 Mar 1998, 11:52 · from urth-v0008.mbox · original

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From: tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk (Tony Ellis)
Subject: (urth) More on Jonas
Date: 24 Mar 1998 12:52:06 +0100
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[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other work=
s]

                                                                     =20
24/03/98
                                                                      11:31
 More on Jonas

The passage in Conciliator (Chapter X) where Jonas apparently
tells Severian something of his origins is interesting. He says
that his father was a craftsman, talks of having two parents,=20
and of his home being a seacoast town.

Severian, recording this, is aware that Jonas wasn't quite
saying what he thought he was. The question is, just
how economic with the truth was he being?

Presumably his "craftsman" father was the engineer who built
him. But two parents? Who was the other? Another=20
engineer perhaps, or maybe this is an oblique reference to
the machinery with which he was made. Another possibility
is that two android parents can build a child, as they do
in the Long Sun books.

My point is, Jonas could be sticking very closely to the truth,
in which case we could assume that the southern seacost home
story is also as good as true. It's another argument against
Jonas being\speaking Asian, basically. He could have=20
picked up such a language later in life, of course, but I still
have faith in my computer-speak theory.

Any thoughts?=20

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