love & the inhumi

----- Original Message -----

or love . . . now, come to think of it the whole business of the inhumi is about "the healing power of love", isn' it? If people stop hating the inhumi, who get their souls from people, will stop being god's scourge. Unfortunately Wolfe is not offering any facile answer here. The healing power of sexual love does not work particularly well where the inhumi are concerned: Jahlee's "humanisation" and interior sexualisation and love for Horn/Silk only leads her to try to kill Nettle. If anything the message of the books seems to be that you can't love the alien, or that it is a task that requires a god's patience. hartshorn

In another post I mentioned that Wolfe sees sanctification as a very long and difficult process. His comment to me years ago about Severian was that Severian has come from a horrible background, and is gradually and traumatically trying to become a better person. I think we need to bear this theme in mind in the Short Sun presentation of human/inhumi relationships. Wolfe does, IMO, present what needs to happen: people to love inhumi as they love themselves (love your Neighbor as you love yourself, and inhumi are part of Neighborness). But there are going to be loads of setbacks along the way. These failures ought not to be taken as indications that the programme is wrong. When Jahlee dies in Nettle's arms, that is one of the most moving scenes I've ever read. It gives me chills just to remember it. It is a wonderful image of hope in spite of failure. Nutria

----- Original Message ----- From: James Jordan

Actually, it seems to me a powerful image of failure in spite of hope :-( hartshorn