(urth) What's So Great About Ushas?

[John Smith]

This post has a lot of interesting ideas about
pre-Christian influences on BOTNS.

However, I have to disagree with this statement:

"For me, it is clear that Wolfe means to depict Urth
> as populated by a flawed
> race of people.  For the universes to have a better
> future, this flawed race needs
> to be wiped out, starting over from scratch.  "

Wiping out races is the final solution of the Nazis
and the solution (at times) of the Old Testament God. 
  The Christian solution is mercy and redemption.  
The fact that people are flawed is the reason mercy is
needed.   I think (and hope) that this is Wolfe's
view.






--- b sharp <bsharporflat at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> In the "Sev the Murderer" thread Dave Tallman notes
> that Severian is a flawed hero, 
> not a villain as almost everyone would agree.  As
> Thalassocrat points out, 
> almost all humans would have been evacuated if Urth
> went to Ragnarok. Far more
> people were killed in the creation of Ushas. True
> genocide. So why is Severian a hero 
> and what is so great about Ushas?  I think the
> answer is the disguised subtext of the 
> series.
> 
>For me, it is clear that Wolfe means to depict Urth
> as populated by a flawed
> race of people.  For the universes to have a better
> future, this flawed race needs
> to be wiped out, starting over from scratch.  I
> interpret that these flaws were based
> on human issues that were troubling Wolfe at the
> time of writing this series.  Stuff 
> like a propensity for empire building, toleration of
> torture, the potential abuse of 
> genetic engineering and the potential for loss of
> personal identity associated with 
> communism, cloning and artificial intelligence. 
> Human carnivory also seems to 
> bother Wolfe.
> 
> But why does Wolfe find genocide necessary to cure
> these ills?  The sailors from the 
> ship were used to re-populate Ushas, I think..  They
> seem like pretty normal people 
> with human faults.  And there are lots of pretty
> good people on Urth.  Why were 
> the sailors considered so superior to the human
> beings on Urth?  I think the 
> answer lies in quirks of Wolfe's religious
> philosophy.
> 
> The pre-Christian religious competitors to Judaism
> were populated with some pretty
> unpleasant characters:  gods and monsters with
> superhuman powers but usually
> governed by the worst of human character flaws:
> domination, pride, anger, jealousy
> and lust.  These gods often appeared as a family
> pantheon, mating incestuously with
> each other.  Commonly they were shape shifters and
> some used this ability to take
> human form, mating and reproducing with humans
> beings creating lesser-powered 
> demi-gods and monsters.
> 
> The Judeo-Christian God is certainly superior, by
> our standards.  He had some early 
> anger and jealousy issues but He seemed to evolve
> past that. Being monotheistic he 
> didn't have the incest problem and His only human
> reproductive interaction was for
> the purpose of human salvation not personal lust. 
> But in the Judaic tradition, some 
> of God's angels fell and became demons and
> reproduced with humans creating the 
> Nephilim giants.  Also, Lilith was said to mate with
> Adam, spawning various demons, 
> lamia, vampires, etc. The Biblical Flood might have
> served the purpose of 
> eliminating the nephilim, at the least.
> 
> I see the genetic corruption of the human race on
> Urth by shape-shifting aliens as 
> one of the deepest underlying currents of BOTNS, the
> evidence mostly to be found 
> in the dreams, stories and myths of the narrative. 
> Eschatology and Genesis, with 
> Nod and Jahi and demons are the most explicit
> reference.  Severian/Thecla's 
> post-battle vision of a bull father and being born
> under the swan seem direct 
> Zeus-human mating references. Melito's and Foila's
> stories, Dorcas' veiled 
> memories and many other story elements add
> contributing evidence. 
> 
> "Father" Inire, a bent, highly creative,
> Hephaestus-like personage, takes many 
> forms (I think) and has a suspicious interest in
> young girls.  The Cumaean also 
> takes numerous forms, like Lilith and Hecate is
> associated with snakes and 
> witchcraft, and wants to usurp the Increatic power
> of resurrection from death.  
> I think Wolfe sees these two characters as part of
> the problem on Urth, thus they 
> are swept away from Ushas as are the other cacogens,
> megatherians, etc. 
> (Why Juturna remains is an interesting question). 
> 
> I think Severian's incest problem goes significantly
> further than just with Dorcas.  
> As in certain ancient Greek legends, including
> Oedipus, he belongs to a cursed 
> family and is a reflection of how the  alien
> (pre-Christian gods) influence on 
> humanity has irreversibly corrupted even the best of
> humanity which remains on 
> Urth. Like 5HOC, the central mystery here is one of
> origin/identity.  And the answer, 
> for Severian, is a bit different but as spooky as
> for Number 5 and VRT.
> 
> The sailors from the ship apparently left earth
> before these corrupting influences 
> invaded Urth and that is what makes them good
> breeding stock for the new world. 
> I think Severian, Thais, Odilo and Pega are meant to
> represent the only corrupted, 
> Urthian humans to survive the flood. I think it is
> safe to assume these four did not 
> produce children and the new, pure humanity of Ushas
> was able to evolve into green
> people and beyond.
> 
> [I had always been mystified by the elusive sub-text
> of BOTNS. A couple years ago
> I immersed myself in this list and other resources
> to come to these conclusions. 
> Thanks to those patient souls here who indulged me
> with incisive feedback on ideas.]
> 
> 
> -bsharp
> 
> 
>
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