Quetzal On Urth?

Charles Reed · 25 Nov 2002, 17:15 · from urth-v0211.mbox · original

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From: "Charles Reed" <cmreed at link.com>
Subject: (urth) Quetzal On Urth?
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 11:15:48 -0600
Message-ID: <urth-v0211-2231 at digest.urth.net>
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Howdy everyone.

I have some thoughts that I'd like to share regarding when Quetzal came=20
on board the Whorl, especially in regard to how Gene Wolfe seems to=20
approach his writing.

Last week, Crush posited the following:

 > ... even if Typhon did not know the target
 > planets were full of blood-sucking monsters
 > (and I never imagined he did) it does not mean
 > he wasn't manipulated by Quetzal on Urth.  And
 > based on Quetzal's statements in LS3:1 (Slaves
 > of Scylla) that still seems probable to me.

Further, Don Doggett added the following:

 > The thirty years bits all refer to things that
 > have happened inside the Whorl and they all
 > hinge on one idea, namely that Quetzal somehow
 > entered the Whorl from Green or Blue thirty
 > years ago. An easy way around that is to say
 > that Quetzal has been on the Whorl from the
 > start. Nowhere, to the best of my knowledge, is
 > the lifespan of an Inhumu given in the text.
 > For goodness sake, Jahlee was buried underground
 > for months without nourishment . . .

I guess the idea of Quetzal being on board the Whorl from the beginning=20
bugs me more than it should.  There are other theories floating around=20
that I don't agree with but that I can stomach because they at least=20
seem to be within the realm of possibility because their positions can=20
be argued from the *text*.  Examples of such theories include the Blue =3D=20
Ushas theory, and the theory that it was Severian who appeared to Horn=20
in the pit. =20

But the Quetzal-on-board-from-the-beginning theory is different. =20

I see how the text doesn't refute such a possibility -- and I've looked=20
for something to refute it with -- but that's not the same thing as=20
support.  As much as I would like to avoid extra-textual support for my=20
ideas, I'm going to offer as back-door evidence the following quote from=20
the Nick Gevers interview with Gene Wolfe (=20
http://www.sfsite.com/03b/gw124.htm ):

--------------------
Q:  Why did you choose in Short Sun to have your characters cross over=20
into the milieu of New Sun?  In particular, do the meetings of Horn/Silk=20
and Severian have a decisive impact on the destinies of both?

A:  Because the books would have been lame if they had not.  Once you=20
see that Pas is or was Typhon, and know the Rajan can travel by astral=20
projection, he's got to do that.  There's a wonderful bit in the Roger=20
Rabbit movie nobody seems to get.  Roger goes around with handcuffs on=20
his wrists for half an hour.  Then he pulls one hand out of the cuffs=20
and does something with it, and sticks it back in.  Bob says, "You mean=20
to tell me you could get out of those whenever you wanted to?"  And=20
Roger says, "No, only when it's funny."  That is a profound expression=20
of the the law that governs all writers and performers.  The audience=20
doesn't have to think about that, but writers are bound by it.  If=20
there's a gun on the wall in Act I, it must be fired before the end of=20
the play. Etc.
--------------------

OK.  Think about this.  If Quetzal or other inhumi had been on Urth=20
influencing Typhon or other government officials, I think Gene Wolfe=20
would have let us know.  More than that, according to the above quote, I=20
think he would have felt bound -- at least artistically but perhaps=20
morally as well -- to let something of such a relationship be seen.  In=20
other words, if the inhumi can travel to Urth (as has been suggested of=20
Quetzal) then they've *got* to do that.  We would hear stories of them=20
on Urth, see one flying in the distance, observe people who don't eat,=20
can't run, and lick their chops when someone mentions blood.  Something.=20
 Some indication.  But there's nothing.  No indication whatsoever that=20
any of the inhumi have ever been on Urth.  (The SS astral-projections=20
don't count because, for one, they're not physically there and for two,=20
they're not inhumi when they're there -- they're fully and completely=20
human.)

Further, if it's only one single inhumu (Quetzal) that made it to Urth,=20
how did he get there and why can't others come too?   He has to have=20
been there physically -- not astrally.  That is, he had to have traveled=20
there on some kind of ship.  So who built and launched such a ship and=20
where is it now?  If Quetzal was slick enough to influence Typhon about=20
where to point the Whorl, surely he would would have been slick enough=20
to redirect the hypothetical Urth-bound ship to Green (with it's=20
"cargo") thereby avoiding the need to go to Urth at all.

I feel like I'm ranting, and I apologize.  I just can't see any textual=20
support (which again is not the same as the lack of refutation) for the=20
idea that any inhumi ever visited Urth.  Is there any?

Charles

--=20

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