Urth Net
Parent-child imagery in OBW
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From: Roberson, John
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 1999 10:20 AM
To: 'WHORL at LISTS.BEST'
Subject: Parent-child imagery in OBW
Importance: High
Had an e-mail glitch, so forgive me if you receive this twice. Has anyone noticed the preponderance of father-son/parent-child relationships (figurative & literal)being examined in OBW? A partial list follows:
1. Horn-Sinew
2. Horn-Hide, Hoof
3. Smoothbone-Horn
4. Silk-Horn
5. Silk-New Viron
6. Rajan-Gaon
7. Horn-Krait
8. The Mother-Seawrack
9. Horn & Seawrack-Babbie
10. Maytera Marble-Mucor
Can anyone think of others I've missed? The Whorl-Blue colonies relationship, perhaps? It's no wonder the book is dedicated to Matt & Roy, Gene's sons. I wonder if this thematic device will carry through to the remaining two books: one volume examining brother-sister relationships (Severian-Merryn, Silk-Chemille, I seem to recall the God/Goddess programs being "brothers and sisters",etc) and another volume on husband-wife (Horn-Nettle in more detail, Silk-Hyacinth, etc.)? Maybe nothing to it, but...there sure has been a big concentration on parent-child imagery in the first volume...What do you think?
*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.