Digest whorl.v006.n008

Kevin McGuire · 21 Jun 1997, 11:56 · from whorl-v0006.mbox · original

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From: "Kevin McGuire" <kmcguire at itw.com>
Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v006.n008
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:56:55 +0000
Message-ID: <whorl-v0006-0377 at digest.urth.net>
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[Posted from WHORL, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

Alga writes:
> >I want to object to a creeping assumption in the last few posts, that
> >Severian is Christian. Wolfe may be [is] Christian, it's possible that t=
he
> >Short Sun books may move in a Christian direction, like a good deal of t=
he
> >Cordwainer Smith or C.S. Lewis work, and Severian himself may be "a form=
 of
> >the Outsider," but that doesn't make him a Christian as I understand it.=
 An
> >avatar of Christ, maybe, which is a little different.
> >
> >-alga-=20

and Nutria replies:
 > I don't want to get into an Alga-Nutria war, but once again I need to
 > bring in Gene's own statement, to me, that Severian is not a Christ figu=
re=20
 > but a Christian figure. That's from the horse's (pardon, wolf's) mouth.=20

I would argue (respectfully, of course) that regardless of Wolfe's
intentionality, Severian is for my money,  a Christ figure, without
being a Christian (in the sense of modern christianity).  Not to
belabour the point, but Severian healed the sick, raised the dead
(and for good measure saves humanity entirely by restarting the red
sun) and, like the Fisher King, was lame.  Obviously there is no=20
direct correspondence between all Severian's actions and those of=20
Christ - I think Wolfe is writing much more than a mere allegory. =20

Silk, on the other hand, is much farther removed from the miraculous=20
tradition that Severian embodies.  Silk strikes me as a penitent and=20
truthful man who gradually discovers that the tradition he followed=20
is not the embodiment of goodness that he had taken it to be, and=20
must discover a new path of enlightenment (or perhaps have one thrust=20
upon him, by revelation) - perhaps more similar to Paul than Christ.

Mythologically inclined folks might want to comment that just as
Severian is a Christ figure, he also represents (ala Joe Campbell) a
heroic tradition that is far broader and older than Christianity
proper, and I have no problem with that.=20

On another Biblical note, it is clear that in the inhumi we have a=20
snake in the Garden, but I didn't notice that much in the way of=20
Satanic imagery in Urth books - or was I not paying attention?
Kevin McGuire    |"Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than
Philadelphia, PA | when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right"
                 |    --Laurents van der Post

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