Pig's eye and astral needles

Jason Ingram · 23 Apr 2001, 22:11 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: Jason Ingram <jingram at usc.edu>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Pig's eye and astral needles
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 22:11:08
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0713 at digest.urth.net>
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Yves raises some interesting issues:

>What is disturbing to me is that there is so much divine possession
>implicit in the story that one cannot reliably know who is who.

This questioning of identity was one of the more powerful aspects of=20
the series, in my mind.  I suppose that each reader negotiates her=20
own contract, though.

>This clearly implies that the needles are not tangible: that the inhumi's
>belief that they have been wounded is what kills them. Since the Narrator
>can pass through walls as well, I would be tempted to assume that he is not
>tangible at all himself. But he does interact with his physical
>surroundings at other times -- or does he? Can someone provide an
>unambiguous quote to dispel the doubt? Because if we have no clear evidence
>of interaction with physical objects other than people, then we might
>theorize that it is the observer's belief in the physicality of astral
>projections that gives them "substance" to the extent that the _observer_
>can be affected.

This is a tempting line of analysis; the argument I would be tempted=20
to make is that bilocation only affects those who "go under," and=20
that those visited are merely epiphenomenal.  However, Severian seems=20
to contradict this theory: the narrator and others appear to a real=20
(?) character, so bilocation does not seem limited to shared visions=20
with psychosomatic effects on those participating.  Also, Horn's=20
translation into Silk seems quite similar to bilocation.

The question of tangibility is distinct.  I'm not sure how to delimit=20
"physical" in this case.  The ability of the inhumi to pass as human=20
is in part related to a sort of psychic camouflage; the Neighbors=20
have passed on some powers to Horn which followed his psyche to Silk;=20
so it may be worth playing with the unique powers afforded by that=20
interaction--as others have done.

Related issues:

regarding plausibility: if Mucor's powers were acceptable to readers,=20
I'm not sure why this variant (bilocation with groups, but without=20
possession) should seem substantially less reasonable.

regarding The Secret:  it seems clear that blood passes on=20
intelligence to offspring.  This makes me curious about Patera=20
Quetzal . . . did one of his parents encounter humans prior to the=20
Whorl's visit?  (otherwise, how could the first have made it to the=20
Loganstone in order to return to raise a brood?)  Did Quetzal have=20
other-than-human intelligence?  Am I missing something?

Jason

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