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↰ answers Christopher Culver
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2 quoted lines
From: "Christopher Culver" <new_sun at hotmail.com>
(Back after about a year's absence from the list).
Welcome back!
1 quoted line
2) Severian, remembering his time in the classroom of Master Malrubius, quotes Malrubius as speaking about Severian's diligence, and trailing off with, "There was a boy..." Is it generally accepted that he was speaking of Palaemon (before his exile)?
I've always assumed so. There seems to be good evidence from the text (sorry, no citations) that Severian walked in Palaemon's steps in more ways than one. I've often wondered if Palaemon was an early candidate for the concilliator: the hieros had figured out by a certain point that a torturer was needed. Palaemon went through many of the appropriate experiences, but in the end, loyalty to his guild won out. The "first" Severian (the one who lies in Severian's tomb) was even closer, but still not quite right.
Another question: what is the historical basis (if any) for our conception of how a torturer looks? In other words, from whence comes the image of the bare-chested masked torturer?
Lex Shellac