Horn Lives

James Jordan · 17 Feb 2001, 13:11 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Subject: (whorl) Horn Lives
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2001 13:11:24
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0263 at digest.urth.net>
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	I'm finally done with the book, and have not finished all the posts, but=20
at this point I'm not at all convinced that Horn is gone and Silk lives.=20
Quite the opposite. But I'm not completely sure. Let me make a case for=20
this reading, and you can respond.
	Because I think all you guys are wrong.
	We have to pay attention to who the narrator is. Hoof and Hide NEVER=20
believed that "Father" was Horn. Neither did Remora. Now Remora CLAIMS that=20
he got the narrator finally to see the light and admit that he is Silk?=20
Really? Are we supposed to believe this? People have been trying to get=20
Horn to do this for over a year, but he knows fully who he is. But when=20
they keep it up, as he says himself, sometimes he just stops arguing. Are=20
we really supposed to take three pages of Remora's testimony and pit it=20
against hundreds of pages of testimony from the narrator? Really?
	Yes, Remora is a "good guy," if definitely annoying. But he has his own=20
preconceptions. I don't think he's lying, but I don't think he recognizes=20
the truth at all. He sees what he wants to see.
	Sure, the kids who write the final chapters believe he is Silk. Of course=20
they do. And so does Remora. But there is no indication FROM THE NARRATOR=20
that he ever accepts this, is there?
	Why don't they think he is Horn? Not just because he looks different, but=20
because he manifests Silk's abilities, which are not Horn's. But (a) Horn=20
has always tried to mimic Silk, and that's part of it. And (b) we have=20
Horn's personality in Silk's body. Thus, he manifests Silk's physical genes=20
and gifts, becoming an outstanding leader. And he has some of Silk's=20
memories, since they are lodged in Silk's physical brain.
	This construction fits perfectly, I submit, with the theology of the book.=20
Christians live in Christ, in the body of Christ (both personal and=20
churchly), and receive the same Holy Spirit as Jesus received. So, Horn=20
lives in Silk's body, and receives the same Oreb. And, feeding on Christ's=20
body eucharistically, Christians receive from Him. Similarly, Horn is=20
receiving things from Silk's body.
	But Horn's personality as dead and obliterated? No way. It is Silk's=20
personality that is gone.
	Now, the narrator does say that he killed Hide and Hoof's father. But this=20
could mean several different things, such as that his actions on Green=20
resulted in the death of his body. It does not have to mean that a reviving=20
Silk drove out the remnants of Horn.
	At the end, the astral body of Horn appears most like Silk. Well, as=20
Christians mature they are supposed to become more Christlike. That is,=20
their inner selves are supposed to conform to Christ. And in the astral=20
sphere, what we see are the inner selves. I don't think that this Silk-like=20
appearance of the astral body means any more than that. Similarly, the=20
human appearance of the astral inhumi shows that they are becoming human in=20
their inner persons.
	It's Horn, folks. First, middle, and last. Horn all the way. Horn becoming=20
more Silk-like. Horn "becoming conformed to Christ in the inner man" as St.=20
Paul puts it. But Horn. Nobody else.
	There. That's the gauntlet.

Patera Nutria


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