The Secret House Within BotNS

Antonio, I feel your pain. For the longest time I could see all these clues and hints of clues but I had no idea what Wolfe was really trying to get at. Perhaps I still don't, but I think I have some idea. It may be that Gene Wolfe is just light years smarter than anyone else. Or perhaps, as he describes Agia, he is just better at making puzzles for others than at solving them. But I think he is an extremely intelligent, learned guy who spent years trapped in an agricultural/mechanical college, in the army, in a boring engineering job with all sorts of intense thoughts about religion and philosophy and history and science all boiling around in his brain with no outlet. So, in broadest terms, I think that's the Secret House of BotNS, a mixture of autobiography and a desire to be understood by a guy so smart he is really hard to understand. I think there are some aspects woven within the story which are inspired by details of Gene Wolfe's personal life. Some of these will be accessible to us via online biographies but others will not. (actually I think Horn's relationship with Nettle and his sons comes closest to true autobiography- Mrs. Wolfe is named Rosemary and rosemary is a member of the nettle family). More specifically I agree with Tim, Ryan and others (esp. Peter Wright) that much of the sub-text is about how a character such as Severian is prodded and pushed by secret forces much greater and more knowledgeable than he is to accomplish various supernatural goals. This concept is interesting in relation to all of humanity, to government and politics, to Jesus, to Gene Wolfe and his own life and even perhaps the reader and his/her own life. Even more specifically, I think Gene Wolfe is trying to address the question of the purpose of the pagan world in regard to Christianity. What purpose did God have in leaving humanity to suffer through the pre-Christ, pre-Moses ages where petty gods and monsters jerked us around? Why did God make angels knowing some of them would fall. Why did he put Adam and Eve (Meschia and Meschianne) in Eden, knowing they'd succumb to temptation? Why did he make earth knowing he'd have to cleanse it with a Flood, etc. Well, perhaps the exact "why" is beyond us. But BotNS might be Wolfe's answer as to "how", i.e. God uses agents, sometimes human, sometimes evil, sometimes superhuman, to achieve His ultimate goals. And that's why we see so many shape-shifting, animalistic, human-mating gods and monsters in the mythology of ancient people. The process of corrupting then cleansing humanity through Floods and Christ and who knows what else in the future is a neccessary part of our spiritual development. (and perhaps other beings, as seen on Blue) For me a story which goes beyond itself to address divine issues, issues for all humanity, and personal issues for author and reader is more enjoyable than a simple plot. And that is why trying to map out the Secret House of this story is worthwhile for me. Could I find so many secret, relevant, interesting connections in, say, Robinson Crusoe? I don't know. I haven't tried, but I don't think so. I've read it many times but I never got the overwhelming sense that I was missing something as I did with BotNS. I know I am not alone in that feeling. (p.s.I am not religious myself, it is the religious mind of Gene Wolfe that I find so interesting).

Hi Lee, Thanks for your exposition, I agree with much though not all of it, but it addresses a different question than the one I was asking. I'm empahtically not dismissing that kind of approach. I'm calling for it to be purposeful. I think my reply earlier in the afternoon didn't make it to the list, so I'll just repeat it below: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com>:

But that's not at all what I'm saying. Of course there are loadheaps of dots to connect. What I'm arguing against is their wanton connection - precisely because there is so much to work with. That's why I insist on results: don't connect things because you believe they fulfill some pattern - patterns are a dime a dozen. Rather, connect them if they lead to novelty.

Just on this botanical point, rosemary is not a member of the nettle family. It is a member of the mint family. (Which would suggest, if you accept this naming theory, that Wolfe's depiction of his wife is more likely to be Maytera/General Mint than Nettle.) best, Mo

Or Rose!

...this suggests that the "naming theory" is of limited value.

James Wynn wrote (07-07-2010 22:11):

<shivers!> Am I the only one whose Silk's recoiling at the idea of being in the same room as Rose was transferred to myself? (Awful grammar, I know, but I felt like using it.)

Indeed. Mo # ~ # ~ # WolfeWiki -- a wiki about Gene Wolfe http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/

It is a psychoactive herb. .

Thank you for that correction Mo. I re-did the research and I was in error. Rosemary and sweet/dead nettle are separate genuses (genii?) within the mint family and I got them conflated the first time checking. Ah well. I still get the feeling Horn and his family are semi-autobiographical. And when an author named Wolfe with wife Rosemary creates a city where men have animal-derived names and women have plant-derived names it might not be accidental.

Lee Berman wrote (08-07-2010 04:53):

In fact rosemary, sweet/dead nettle, hedge nettle and the mints all belong to several genera of the Labiates. There is also a nettle in the spurge family. Besides the normal nettle which has a family of her own, as Mo said.