(urth) Newbie - a theory and some questions.
Andrew Kertesz
zsetrek_a at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 14 04:31:37 PST 2005
Hello everyone,
Im a student from Australia, and Ive just discovered this mailing list
after a holiday well spent on a Gene Wolfe binge: I devoured the BotNS in a
few days after Christmas, and was to put it mildly awed. I promptly
ordered UotNS, Long Sun, and Short Sun.
At the moment, Im nearly through a refresher re-reading of the BotNS, in
anticipation of starting UotNS (the rest of the books waiting in a pile on
my floor), and Ive come to you with a few questions that have been nagging
me. In exchange, however, I thought Id offer a theory that Ive developed
during my second reading.
First, my theory one that revolves around the issue of Agilus mask. Its
nothing groundbreaking, and forgive me if this one has already been floated,
but Im comparatively new to this ;)
We know that the Cacogens are not a single, unified, race for example, the
Heirodules Ossipago, Barbatus and Famulimus are described, in Sword of the
Lictor, as quite different from one annother:
One, if he had been truly a human being, would have been short and stout.
The other two were a good head taller than I, as tall as exultants
The
masks all three wore gave them the faces of refined men of middle age,
thoughtful and poised; but I was aware that the eyes that looked out through
the slits in the masks of the two taller figures were larger than human
eyes, and that the shorter figure had no eyes at all, so that only darkness
was visible there.
There are other references in the series which refer to the Cacogens as
races from beyond the stars none of which I can find on a quick flip
through.
If we accept that the Cacogens are not identical, or even unified, then why
not assume that Agilus is a member of another race of Cacogen? It is
possible that he differs from the three Heirodules (in that his disguise is
more efficient, his motives more opaque, and his nature less trustworthy),
yet is in other ways, similar to them. Like Ossipago et. al, he wears a
series of masks (as the "black ribbon" indicates). However, he appears to
wear his masks in a different fashion
The Heirodules wear, firstly, a human mask, which conceals a monstrous
mask, which, in turn, conceals their true (super) humanity. On the other
hand, when Severian fist meets Agilus, the shopkeeper wears a deaths mask,
which conceals a face identical to Agias.
A pattern could be imposed on this:
The Heirodules wear:
1)Human mask
2)Inhuman mask
3)Human face
Agilus wears:
1)Inhuman mask
2)Human mask
3)?
I think that Agilus Agia face conceals his true, inhuman face and, in
this way, he is an inverse of the Heirodules - an anti-Heirodule, if you
will. In keeping with this, his role in the narrative seems to be a negative
one, or at least antagonistic.
I dont know how one could expand on this theory though
Is Agilus openly
against the New Sun (it seems like his sister is but is she a Cacogen
too?) or is he merely a bystander who becomes caught up in the story? Im
not sure, but I think the general conceit of the theory is neat, at least.
Ok, so on to my questions:
1) Is the boatman who sails the Gyoll (he helped rescue Severian from
drowning in Shadow of the Torturer and, later, ferried Severian to Dorcass
house in Citadel of the Autarch) Jonas? His speech patterns suggest so, as
do some of his comments but if so, who is his niece, who rides with him
in Citadel?
2) Who/what is Erebus? I was never very clear on this.
3) Is Abia an alien, or was it once an enhanced human, like its
handmaidens and Baldanders?
If any of these are answered in UotNS, Long, or Short, a simple "wait and
see" is all that is required.
Well, thats enough for now I hope my theory is somewhat constructive, and
that you guys can help me with these niggling questions.
Finally, and most importantly - pleased to meet you!
Sincerely,
Andrew Kertesz
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