More on Jonas

24/03/98 11:31 More on Jonas The passage in Conciliator (Chapter X) where Jonas apparently tells Severian something of his origins is interesting. He says that his father was a craftsman, talks of having two parents, and of his home being a seacoast town. Severian, recording this, is aware that Jonas wasn't quite saying what he thought he was. The question is, just how economic with the truth was he being? Presumably his "craftsman" father was the engineer who built him. But two parents? Who was the other? Another engineer perhaps, or maybe this is an oblique reference to the machinery with which he was made. Another possibility is that two android parents can build a child, as they do in the Long Sun books. My point is, Jonas could be sticking very closely to the truth, in which case we could assume that the southern seacost home story is also as good as true. It's another argument against Jonas being\speaking Asian, basically. He could have picked up such a language later in life, of course, but I still have faith in my computer-speak theory. Any thoughts?