IGJ: altar scene Spoiler

Peter Westlake · 29 Dec 2000, 11:45 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: Peter Westlake <peter at harlequin.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (whorl) IGJ: altar scene *Spoiler*
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 11:45:01 +0000
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0071 at digest.urth.net>
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At 02:15 2000-12-29 -0500, E Dorian wrote:
>Hi Everybody,
>
>So, recently I decided to read all of the Sun books in order, timing it so=20
>that when I finished IGJ, RTTW would come out and I would jump to that. =20
>Well, I am behind; I am about to finish Urth of the New Sun.  But I may ha=
ve=20
>discovered something interesting.  I was on page 356 of Urth:
>
>     "I felt as real as I ever have; and when I searched among my memories=
,=20
>I found Valeria there still, and Thecla and old Autarch, and the boy=20
>Severian(who had been Severian only).  "No," I said.  "We will live."
>
>Adam's quote from IGJ:  "I knew that he was there, that if I turned, I wou=
ld=20
>see them."
>
>Severian stopped being "one" person, so to speak.  He uses "I" throughout=20
>his entire narrative, but sprinkles the "we's" around on occasion.
>
>Severian uses "I" and "we", the IGJ passage uses "he" and "them", so, have=
 I=20
>unurthed evidence that Severian is The Outsider?

I see what you mean, but I think "them" refers to the Outsider and the
rather large baletiger that helps Horn. Severian talks a lot about "the
Increate" and "the Pancreator" in very much the terms of a man talking
about a deity, and that's who the Outsider is, I'm sure.

Spectacled Bear (really wearing spectacles today).

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