Horn Lives

James Jordan · 19 Feb 2001, 10:38 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Horn Lives
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 10:38:04
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At 01:20 PM 2/18/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>I'm not sure how I came to be the Official Defender of Silkhorn's Silkines=
s.
>But since nobody else has yet picked up the gauntlet you've thrown down, I
>guess it's up to me.

         Thanks.

>My first reaction to your post is that you're trashing the most moving sce=
ne
>in the book just to save a grotesque allegory.  Apart from that, some
>comments on specific points.

         For me the death of Jahlee was the most moving part of the book.

>And there are hundreds of pages of testimony from Weer that he's not dead,
>and dozens of pages from the prisoner in "V. R. T." that he's Marsch.

         True. I don't know that Wolfe is doing all that AGAIN, though.

>There's no evidence at all that Remora's report of his interview with Silk
>was distorted by his preconceptions.  And if nothing took place during this
>interview, if "Horn" just nodded at the end to shut Remora up as you sugge=
st
>(or didn't nod at all), then why does "Horn" leave immediately afterwards,
>for ever, without seeing his sons again?

         Good question.

> > Sure, the kids who write the final chapters believe he is Silk. Of cour=
se
> > they do. And so does Remora. But there is no indication FROM THE NARRAT=
OR
> > that he ever accepts this, is there?
>
>Yes, there is: at the end of Chapter 20, and in Silk's words to Daisy in t=
he
>Afterword.  Your reasons for discounting these don't hold up.

         Yes, this is a problem for the Horn Lives viewpoint. But is Silk=20
the kind of man who cannot face saying farewell to people he has=20
unwittingly wronged? Okay, we can distinguish between Book Silk and Real=20
Silk, and say that Book Silk would never act this way, while Real Silk=20
might. But I'm not convinced this is enough. Wolfe is tricky, and I'm still=20
inclined to think that what Narr. tells Daisy is cryptic.

>There's no evidence that the appearance of people's astral selves changes =
as
>their character changes.  The inhumi's astral selves appear human, not
>because the inhumi are becoming more human, but because their spirits are
>human, taken from humans.

         You may be right. I'll have to reinvestigate.

>Two final questions for you:
>
>1) Why, according to your reading, does Horn never acknowledge that he is =
in
>Silk's body?

         Well, on my reading he does, at the end. But I recall a scene=20
where he looks at his arm to see a scar that was present on Silk's body,=20
and does not see it, thereby convincing himself that he is not in Silk's=20
body. (Anybody else recall this?)
         But the main reason, I think (today) is this: He wants to bring=20
Silk back. The Neighbor told him that he was going to enter the body of a=20
man whose spirit was departing. That means Silk is dead, and the proof is=20
that Horn is in Silk's body. Horn does not want to face this fact.

>2) If the scene with Remora is meaningless, why does Wolfe include it at
>all?  And why does he place it where he does, as the last chapter before t=
he
>Afterword?

         Oh, I don't think it's meaningless. But I'm not sure the=20
characters understand what they report, as is often the case in Wolfe.
         We should start a separate string on this, I guess, but consider=20
the citation from the Chras. Writings:

Though trodden beneath the shepherd's heel,
The wild hyacinth blooms on the ground. (p. 408)

         Now, given how we have seen Silk and Horn (Silkhorn, Hornsilk,=20
whatever) interpret the CW in other parts of the seven books, how should we=20
interpret this? Surely NOT as some cryptic reference to the person of=20
Hyacinth! Let me give it a Silklike try:
         "Now, the shepherd is the master, who rules the land. Perhaps he=20
is the Outsider, or one of his agents. Because of our waywardness, there=20
are times when He must crush the blossoms in His garden; but not unto total=20
destruction. Rather, though they are trodden down, they will rise again. Do=20
not the Chrasmological Writings themselves say that a great flood must come=20
before a new sun can be born to give life to the garden of the whorl? I=20
wonder if this might refer to an event yet to come to the Red Sun Whorl=20
that we have visited....
         "A hyacinth is a flower of many possible colors, yet it seems we=20
usually associate it with purple. As Oreb is black because of the black=20
spaces of the Outsider's whorl, perhaps the hyacinth is also a picture of=20
the work of the Outsider. His people, those who follow Him, will come to=20
life again after those necessary times of judgment that He brings upon them=
."
         Bla bla blah... Well, I guess this could refer to Silk's coming to=20
life again after being trodden down. I guess that's what Remora thought.=20
But perhaps it means that wicked New Viron can come to life again, and this=20
is why "he wept."

         Well, I'm not settled in my understanding, but I still lean=20
heavily toward the Horn Lives interpretation. As you rightly point out,=20
it's the only view that makes sense to me in terms of the basic grid of the=20
seven books. "For Silk to live, Horn must die" seems to me to be the=20
OPPOSITE of everything the books are about. But, Wolfe can be tricky.

Patera Nutria


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