Father Inire theory cont (Jonas)

Jonas speaks of his childhood on Urth. He says that 'Kim Lee Soong' was a common name in his youth 'in lands now lost beneath the waves'. And his exclamation 'I know where we are - on Urth', hard though it is to understand, seems to make most sense if he has seen it before. It's worth remembering that the drop ceiling was installed after the antechamber first came into use. The idea, I think (though it isn't made very clear) is that the original antechamber was just one fairly small room, and as more and more people were confined there, it became combined with neighbouring rooms; the drop ceiling was then installed to cover the joins. So even if Jonas' first experience of a drop ceiling was on a ship, the one he's seeing now is not the same one. One other thing - we do know something about the ship Jonas was on. After reading a book 'I asked the ship and she gave me another'. So it seems the ship was run by a computer with a personality. That doesn't seem to fit Tzadkiel's ship, as far as I can remember. (And we know, of course, that computers were important during the first empire.) (I agree that Jonas has met Hethor before, and I think it likely that Hethor was on Tzadkiel's ship during at least part of his life, but they may just have met in ports from time to time, or something.)

[Note: as has been pointed out, by you I think, Jonas seems to have been on a different ship from Hethor, so that paracoita theory becomes even more doubtful!]

Does he actually speak of his childhood? He was a robot, after all. Still, I take your point that he seems to have known something of the Urth of his youth.

That one is easy, I think. Remember, it is in the context of them having found the transporter. All that matters to Jonas is that he is on the wrong planet, and he's just found his ticket out.

Indeed. I don't think it makes any sense to conflate Jonas's ship with Tzadkiel's.

Agreed. - Gerry Quinn

Yes, weirdly. Severian reports that he says he was brought up by his parents in what he called the normal way 'though actually it is rather rare'. He may be lying, of course - unless he is a chemical person of the Long Sun kind - but even then, I think it would be easier for him to invent if he had indeed been on Urth in his youth.

It is a bit puzzling!

The situation with chems is a bit curious too. A male and female chem can build a child - but characters such as Marble and the soldiers, when they talk about their childhood, give me the distinct impression that they were mass produced. - Gerry Quinn